Sadiq Khan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sadiq Aman Khan (born October 8, 1970) is a British Labour politician. He was elected Member of Parliament for Tooting in the 2005 general election, succeeding Tom Cox as the Labour MP for the seat.
He is a member of the Public Accounts Committee
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[edit] Background
Khan was born in 1970 in London. He grew up in a council flat on the Henry Prince Estate in Earlsfield, and attended Fircroft and Ernest Bevin Schools, before going to university to study Law. He completed the Law Society finals at the College of Law in Guildford and trained as a Human Rights Solicitor. He then set up a firm (Christian Khan) with Louise Christian, a left-winger who stood for the Socialist Alliance in Hornsey and Wood Green in the 2001 general election.
He was a visiting lecturer at the University of North London, and a former governor of South Thames FE College. Khan was Chair of Liberty (NCCL) and has been Vice Chair of Legal Action Group (LAG)
[edit] Political career
Khan had been a Councillor in the London Borough of Wandsworth since 1994.
In 2003, Tooting Constituency Labour Party decided to open its parliamentary selection to all interested candidates, including the incumbent MP since 1970, Tom Cox. This prompted Mr Cox, in his mid 70s, to announce his retirement rather than risk deselection. In the subsequent selection contest, Khan beat five other local candidates to become Labour's Parliamentary candidate.
Khan remained a councillor until the May 2006 council elections. He is also a governor of Fircroft School, which his daughters now attend, and of Gatton School.
Khan was awarded 'Newcomer of the Year' by the Spectator Magazine Parliamentarian of the Year awards 2005.
In August 2006, he was a signatory of an open letter to Tony Blair criticising the UK's foreign policy. [1]
