Rushanara Ali appointed as under-secretary of state for housing, communities and local govt

Rushanara Ali has been appointed Britain's' Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, according to the list of minsters published on the UK government website on Tuesday.

She became the second Bangladeshi-origin member of the Labour government cabinet after Tulip Siddiq, who was appointed as the ‘City Minster’.

Tulip Siddiq is the granddaughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and daughter of Bangabandhu’s younger daughter Sheikh Rehana.

Rushanara Ali has been elected from the Bangladeshi-dominated Bethnal Green and Stepney constituency for the fifth time in the 4 July election.

Rushanara is the first MP of Bangladeshi origin in the UK parliament, first winning in the 2010 election from Tower Hamlets' Bethnal Green and Stepney constituency. Since them, she has been representing the constituency from 2010.

This time she won with 15,896 votes. Despite a drop in her votes compared to previous times, she managed to hold on to this Labour seat. Her close contender was also of Bangladeshi origin, Ajmal Masroor. He secured 14,207 votes.

Since 2010 Rushanara had been the shadow minister for international development. From October 2013 she was appointed shadow state minister for education.

Born in Sylhet, Rushanara came to the UK with her family when she was seven. She earned her Bachelor's degree in philosophy, politics and economy from St John's College in Oxford.