London, A record number of British-Pakistanis are contesting the UK general elections scheduled for December 13.
For the first time, more than 70 candidates of Pakistani origin have been given tickets by Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats, reported The News.
Most British Pakistani candidates are from the Conservative Party but candidates fighting on Labour tickets have a greater chance of winning.
The Conservative Party has fielded 20 candidates of Pakistani origin which includes current chancellor Sajid Javid who has been part of Parliament since 2010 from Bromsgrove in Warwickshire. Other notable candidates include Nusrat Ghani, Rehman Chishti and Saqib Bhatti. Ghani has served as the Minister for Transport and was elected first in 2015 from Wealde in Southeast. She was the first female of Pakistani origin to represent Conservatives in the House of Commons.
On the other hand, 19 candidates of Pakistani origin are vying for a seat in Parliament on the Labour Party’s tickets. Labour had the most number of parliamentarians of Pakistani origin in the last Parliament; nine in total including Khalid Mahmood, who has been winning from Birmingham-Perry Barr since 2001 and is currently the seniormost Muslim parliamentarian of Pakistani origin.
The anti-Europe Brexit Party has also fielded five candidates of Pakistani origin whereas four candidates of Pakistani origin are participating in elections from the Green Party’s platform.
Around 10 British Pakistani candidates are vying for a seat in Parliament as Independents.
Since the lists were first published, Conservative candidate from Leeds North East Amjad Bashir and Liberal Democrat’s candidate from Birmingham-Hodge Hill Waheed Rafiq have been disowned over allegations of anti-Semitism.
