Shaffaq Mohammed, Baron Mohammed of Tinsley
The Lord Mohammed of Tinsley | |
---|---|
![]() Official portrait, 2025 | |
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
Assumed office 21 February 2025 Life peerage | |
Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber | |
In office 2 July 2019 – 31 January 2020 | |
Preceded by | John Procter |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan | 21 July 1972
Nationality | British |
Political party | Liberal Democrats |
Alma mater | University of Sheffield |
Shaffaq Mohammed, Baron Mohammed of Tinsley, MBE (born 21 July 1972) is a British politician and life peer. He served as a Liberal Democrats Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Yorkshire and the Humber from 2019 until Brexit in 2020.[1] He unsuccessfully stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the House of Commons in three elections for seats in Sheffield. In February 2025, he became a member of the House of Lords.
Early life
[edit]Mohammed was born on 21 July 1972 in Mirpur, a city in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.[2] He was aged four when his family moved to the United Kingdom.[3] In April 1977 he moved to Sheffield and studied at Park House school. He left school at 16 and was employed through the youth training scheme, while also studying for A-levels at Loxley College.[4] As a mature student, he studied for a degree in business from the University of Sheffield.[4] He then worked as a youth worker in Sheffield.[5]
Political career
[edit]Sheffield City Council
[edit]Between 2004 and 2014 Mohammed served as the Liberal Democrat councillor for Broomhill Ward on Sheffield City Council. He contested Crookes Ward in 2014 and was defeated. He returned as a councillor for Ecclesall Ward in 2016 and was re-elected in 2018.
Mohammed was elected as leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Sheffield City Council in May 2011.[6] He lost this position when he lost his seat as a councillor in 2014. Following his return to the council he was re-elected as group leader in May 2016.[7]
In the 2015 Dissolution Honours, Mohammed was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "for political service" as a councillor on Sheffield City Council.[8]
European Parliament
[edit]Mohammed served as a Liberal Democrats Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Yorkshire and the Humber from 2019 to 2020.[9] He lost his seat when the United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020.
UK Parliament
[edit]House of Commons
[edit]Mohammed stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate in the 2016 Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough by-election, where he finished third with 6.1% of the vote.[10]
Mohammed was the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Sheffield Central constituency in the 2017 general election, coming fourth with 5.1% of the vote.[11]
Mohammed was selected in 2023 to contest former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg's seat of Sheffield Hallam at the 2024 general election.[12] Sheffield Hallam was considered to be a marginal seat between Labour and the Liberal Democrats.[13] Mohammed finished second to Olivia Blake of Labour, with 30.4% of the vote.[12]
House of Lords
[edit]In December 2024, as part of the 2024 Political Peerages, it was announced that Mohammed would receive a life peerage to sit in the House of Lords.[14] He was created Baron Mohammed of Tinsley, of Sheffield in the County of South Yorkshire on 21 February 2025,[15] and sits as a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords.[16] On 1 May 2025, he made his maiden speech during a debate on the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ "The UK's European elections 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ "Shaffaq MOHAMMED | MEPs". www.europarl.europa.eu. European Parliament. 21 July 1972. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Verbatim report of proceedings - Situation in Kashmir (debate)". www.europarl.europa.eu. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ^ a b c Lord Mohammed of Tinsley (1 May 2025). "Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Lords. col. 1361–1363.
- ^ "Ann Widdecombe and Brexit Party out of order comparing EU to slave masters – Yorkshire MEP Shaffaq Mohammed". Yorkshire Post. 9 July 2019. Archived from the original on 5 July 2025. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
- ^ "Shaffaq Mohammed writes: From a boy in Kashmir – to Leader of Sheffield Lib Dems". Liberal Democrat Voice. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- ^ "Shaffaq Mohammed is back as leader of Sheffield Lib Dems". Mark Pack. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- ^ "No. 61359". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 September 2015. p. 17615.
- ^ "The UK's European elections 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ "Brightside and Hillsborough by-election result 2016". Sheffield City Council. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
- ^ "2017 General Election: The 8 candidates in Sheffield Central". Who Can I Vote For? by Democracy Club. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- ^ a b Pack, Mark (23 March 2023). "Sheffield Lib Dems select Shaffaq Mohammed for Hallam". Mark Pack. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
- ^ "Sheffield Hallam Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate stands down". BBC News. 6 January 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- ^ "Political Peerages December 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ "No. 64667". The London Gazette. 26 February 2025. p. 3566.
- ^ "Parliamentary career for Lord Mohammed of Tinsley". MPs and Lords. UK Parliament. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- 1972 births
- Living people
- MEPs for England 2019–2020
- Liberal Democrats (UK) MEPs
- Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers
- Life peers created by Charles III
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors
- Liberal Democrats (UK) parliamentary candidates
- Councillors in Sheffield
- British people of Azad Kashmiri descent
- Alumni of the University of Sheffield
- Youth workers