Shabana Mahmood: The 'Maggie' of Labour?

No one had taken notice of Shabana Mahmood until she was made Home Secretary by Sir Keir Starmer. She held a cabinet position, but she seems, by and large, to have gone under the radar. Now that she is Home Secretary, she will be taking over Yvette Cooper's intray. And what an intray that will be. She will be taking over the management of migration. Or some might say, the mismanagement of migration in the UK. Two fronts will concern her from the outset. One being the daily boat crossings from France to the UK by migrants. And migrants who come here to study on a student visa but do not return to their country of origin. Already, Miss Mahmood has hit the ground running by taking action on visas from those who come here and abuse the system.

So what do we know about Shabana's background? Well, Ms. Mahmood comes from Birmingham and was raised by Pakistani parents. She attended a state school. She went to Oxford and became a barrister. She represents the Ladywood area of Birmingham. Her constituency has high unemployment, and immigrants outnumber Native Britons.

Some on the right dismiss her. However, if they were to look at her credentials, they would see she is "Blue Labour". In other words, she is on the Blairite wing of the party or the right. Some see her as the Saviour of the Labour Party. Some have even gone as far as saying she is the Maggie Thatcher of Labour.

With Shabana fresh in the job as Home Secretary, the above is quite a lot for a woman to take in. Sir Keir has even stated that one day she could replace him as leader. Either the Prime Minister is deluded or he sees something in her that the rest of us don't. Margaret Thatcher came from the town of Grantham in the Midlands. She was brought up in a shop (like Ms. Mahmood), so there may be something to this after all?

Women like Liz Truss and Theresa May were also labelled the "New Thatcher". However, Truss and May never became the "New Thatcher". Could Ms. Mahmood be the one?

Again, as someone once said, "Events dear boy, events". In other words, all is speculation, and one cannot tell what will happen to Shabana as she takes the reins of her political career.

Some say that she will see off the challenge of Nigel Farage and Reform UK. Again, given the popularity of Reform UK, that would seem a "bridge too far".

However, unless there is an early election, the next general election is some way off. So Miss Mahmood and Labour still have time to pull it together. That said, the one thing that might hold Shabana back with many voters, especially among Native Britons, is her faith. She is a devout Muslim, and she admits this is what guides her. Among such voters, that could be her Achilles heel.

Is the UK ready for a person of colour to lead the nation? Rishi Sunak, a Hindu, became Prime Minister on Boris Johnson's resignation. No doubt, Sunak lost last year's general election because he was a billionaire. Plus, the Tories, after 13/14 years of government, were a busted flush. People wanted change and voted for that. This is sad to say, but a fact, Sunak's ethnic background may have turned white voters off him also. South Asians are classified at least in the old way of classification as Caucasian. However, many folk don't see similar features to Europeans; they see colour.

So what can one say about Ms. Mahmood going forward? Nothing much only to say, watch this space and see what transpires.