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London:
Sayeeda Warsi alias Baroness Warsi has been named as chairman of the
Conservative Party, as party leader David Cameron (pictured)
continues to choose members of his new government to lead the
country for the next five years.
She replaces Eric Pickles, who becomes communities secretary.
Sayeeda Warsi, who was shadow minister for community cohesion when
the Tories were in opposition, is the first Muslim woman to serve in
a British cabinet.
A former solicitor, she was a vice-chairman of the Conservative
Party from 2005 to 2007.
Sayeeda Warsi in her new role will be responsible for the running of
overall affairs of the party and will be a bridge between the
parliamentary Conservative Party and the voluntary membership. She
will oversee the working and operations of the Conservative Party
headquarters and will be responsible for reporting the party affairs
to the prime minister and vice versa.
Warsi, who will be the face of the Conservative party from now on,
called her appointment a progressive and historic decision and vowed
she will dedicate herself to make the Conservative message of change
a success.
Sayeeda Warsi has always had a keen
interest in racial justice issues. For many years she was an
executive member of the Kirklees Racial Equalities Council. She is
also a member of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust’s Racial
Justice Committee and regularly represents them at national
conference.
She has been a speaker on issues as varied as forced marriages,
prison conditions and business network links at a national level.
Warsi has worked overseas on a research project on forced marriages
for the Ministry of Law in Pakistan and for the women’s empowerment
charity - the Savayra Foundation.
Sayeeda Warsi was born in Dewsbury in
1971. She was educated at Birkdale High School and Dewsbury College,
and at the University of Leeds where she read Law (LLB).
She attended the York College of Law to complete the legal practice
course and then trained with the Crown Prosecution Service and then
the Home Office Immigration Department.
After qualifying as a Solicitor, Sayeeda Warsi worked for John
Whitfield, the last Conservative Member of Parliament for Dewsbury
and at Whitfield Hallam Goodall Solicitors. Sayeeda Warsi then went
on to set up her own specialist practice, George Warsi Solicitors,
in Dewsbury.
As Britain's first Muslim Cabinet
minister she was already guaranteed to make an impression.
Sayeeda Warsi made a dazzling first appearance at the Cabinet table
yesterday.
The new Tory party chairman - and the first female Asian
frontbencher of any party - ditched the pinstriped traditions of her
predecessors for traditional Asian dress
She arrived to take her seat at the Government's top-table wearing a
multi-toned pink shalwar kameez.
The politician, who does not always wear traditional dress, removed
her coat at the request of photographers, hanging it on a railing
outside Number 10, to display her outfit.
'To be born as the daughter of an immigrant mill worker in a mill
town in Yorkshire, to have the privilege of serving in Cabinet at
such an important time in Britain's history, I think it is terribly
humbling,' she said.
The word shalwar refers to the loose pyjama-like trousers, while the
kameez is the long shirt worn on top.
Sayeeda Warsi's suit also featured a matching dupatta, or chunni,
which is the long scarf she wore over the shoulders.
The whole outfit is a traditional form of dress for women in
Pakistan, from where the Minster's parents hail, and also in India.
Sayeeda Warsi's bright outfit made a sharp contrast with the dark
suits sported by most of the other, predominantly male, Cabinet
members.
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