Faiza Shaheen

Faiza Shaheen (born 1983) is a British economist and left-wing activist.[1] She is the director of the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS).[2] In the 2019 general election she was narrowly unsuccessful in her attempt to unseat Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the incumbent MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, by contesting his constituency for the Labour Party.

Faiza Shaheen
Shaheen in 2016
Born1983 (age 36–37)
Leytonstone, London, England
EducationChingford Foundation School Sir George Monoux sixth form college
Alma materSt John's College, Oxford
University of Manchester
Political partyLabour
Spouse(s)Akin Gazi

Early life and education

Faiza Shaheen was born in Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, east London. Her father was a car mechanic from Fiji and her mother was a Pakistani lab technician.[3][4] She was brought up in Chingford and attended Chingford School,A levels at Sir George Monoux 6th form College followed by St John's College, Oxford University, where she read philosophy, politics and economics.[2][4] Shaheen also holds an MSc in Research Methods & Statistics and a PhD from the University of Manchester.[2]

Career

She has been the head of inequality and sustainable development at Save the Children UK and a senior researcher on economic inequality at the New Economics Foundation (NEF). She is the director of a left-wing policy think tank, the Centre for Labour & Social Studies (CLASS).

Shaheen is a regular contributor to debates on television news programmes, including Newsnight and Channel 4 News, and has worked with Channel 4 and the BBC to develop documentaries on inequality.[2]

Politics

She is a longtime Labour voter and was politicised from an early age. She joined the Labour Party when Jeremy Corbyn became leader in 2015.[5]

In 2017, The Guardian identified her as a "rising star".[3] In 2017, Shaheen was also nominated for Asian Woman of the Year at the Asian Achievers Awards and included in the Top 100 Influencers on the Left list.[2][6][7]

In July 2018, she was selected to be the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party for Chingford and Woodford Green.[8][4] Her campaign was the subject of a six-minute video report in the Guardian which emphasised her local origin and working-class background, contrasting these with the incumbent, Iain Duncan Smith.[9]

She narrowly lost the 2019 General Election to Iain Duncan Smith by 1,262 votes, one of only two London constituencies to increase Labour's percentage vote share.[10][11].

Personal life

Shaheen is married to the actor Akin Gazi.[12]

References
  1. Channel 4 News (27 July 2018). "Faiza Shaheen on solutions to austerity, why she wants to be an MP and institutional racism". Retrieved 27 April 2019 – via YouTube.
  2. "Dr Faiza Shaheen - Staff - CLASS". classonline.org.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  3. Roberts, Yvonne (1 January 2017). "Rising stars of 2017: campaigner Faiza Shaheen". Retrieved 27 April 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  4. "Faiza Shaheen: 'I Feel A Duty To My Country To Take Iain Duncan Smith Out'". HuffPost UK. 7 August 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  5. Eaton, George (8 August 2018). "The Chingford Corbynite: Faiza Shaheen on her mission to oust Iain Duncan Smith". New Statesman.
  6. "Dr Faiza Shaheen". Shelter. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  7. "2017 Awards". Asian Achievers Awards. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  8. Rodgers, Sienna (16 July 2018). "Faiza Shaheen selected to fight Iain Duncan Smith's seat". Labour List. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  9. Walker, Peter (11 November 2019). "Green candidate steps aside as Labour targets Tory-held Chingford". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  10. "It feels unbearable to lose to Iain Duncan Smith, so my campaign will continue". inews.co.uk.
  11. "UK general election 2019: full results". ig.ft.com.
  12. Carswell, Simon (11 December 2019). "Rising Labour star threatens to unseat Tory grandee Iain Duncan Smith". Irish Times. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
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