Bashir Ahmad (politician)

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Bashir Ahmad MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow
Incumbent
Assumed office  3 May 2007
Born	February 12, 1940 (1940-02-12) (age 68) British India
Political party	Scottish National Party

Bashir Ahmad (born February 12, 1940) is a Scottish National Party politician. He was elected to the Scottish Parliament to represent the Glasgow region at the 2007 election, he was also the first MSP to be elected from an Asian-Scots background.^[1]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Political career 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Early life

Born in British India, he was brought up in Pakistan, he emigrated to Scotland in 1961, at the age of 21, settling in the Pollokshields district of Glasgow. Here, he achieved success as an entrepreneur, hotelier, and restaurateur. He served five terms as president of the Pakistan Welfare Association. ^[2]

[edit] Political career

Ahmad has long been active in the SNP. In 1995, he founded Asian Scots for Independence to attract more Asian-Scots to the party. He retired from business in 2003 to devote himself to politics. In that year's elections, he was elected councillor of Pollokshields East.

Upon his selection as second on the SNP's Glasgow list, Ahmad said: "The lack of any Asian or ethnic minority voice in the Scottish Parliament has been felt deeply in my community. But SNP members have righted that wrong. By doing so, they have proved that the SNP aspires to lead a Scottish Parliament that will represent all of Scotland - a truly national parliament. I firmly believe the SNP can now earn the trust of the Asian community throughout Scotland and that this will be a bond that endures for generations."

During the 2007 elections, Ahmad was elected to the Scottish Parliament on the Glasgow regional list. He thus became the first non-white MSP. ^{[3] [4]} He took his oath of office in the Urdu language.

[edit] See also

• Pollokshields
• Asian-Scots

[edit] References

1. ^ BBC NEWS | Scotland | Glasgow and West | First Asian MSP goes to Holyrood
2. ^ [1] BBC News report, Friday, 30 June 2006
3. ^ [2] Interview with The iWitness, Scotland's Muslim Newspaper
4. ^ [3] BBC election report, Friday, 4 May 2007

v • d • e Members of the Scottish Parliament in the Glasgow region Elected in the 2007 election Labour (9 seats), SNP (5 seats), Conservative (1 seat), Lib Dems (1 seat), Greens (1 seat) Constituency MSPs Bill Butler (Lab, Glasgow Anniesland) • Margaret Curran (Lab, Glasgow Baillieston) • Charlie Gordon (Lab, Glasgow Cathcart) • Nicola Sturgeon (SNP, Glasgow Govan) • Pauline McNeill (Lab, Glasgow Kelvin) • Patricia Ferguson (Lab, Glasgow Maryhill) • Johann Lamont (Lab, Glasgow Pollok) • James Kelly (Lab, Glasgow Rutherglen) • Frank McAveety (Lab, Glasgow Shettleston) •Paul Martin (Lab, Glasgow Springburn) Additional Members Bashir Ahmad (SNP) • Bill Aitken (Con) • Robert Brown (Lib Dem) • Bob Doris (SNP) • Patrick Harvie (Green) • Bill Kidd (SNP) • Sandra White (SNP)

v • d • e Scottish National Party MSPs Elected in the 2007 election Brian Adam · Bashir Ahmad · Alasdair Allan · Keith Brown · Aileen Campbell · Willie Coffey · Angela Constance · Bruce Crawford · Roseanna Cunningham · Nigel Don · Bob Doris  · Fergus Ewing · Linda Fabiani · Joe Fitzpatrick · Kenneth Gibson · Rob Gibson · Christine Grahame · Chris Harvie · Jamie Hepburn · Fiona Hyslop · Adam Ingram · Bill Kidd · Richard Lochhead · Kenny MacAskill · Tricia Marwick · Jim Mather · Michael Matheson · Stewart Maxwell · Ian McKee · Christina McKelvie · Stuart McMillan · Alasdair Morgan · Alex Neil  · Gil Paterson · Shona Robison · Michael Russell · Alex Salmond · Shirley-Anne Somerville · Stewart Stevenson · Nicola Sturgeon · John Swinney · David Thompson · Maureen Watt · Andrew Welsh · Sandra White · Bill Wilson · John Wilson