Tulip Siddiq | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2017 | |
| Economic Secretary to the Treasury City Minister | |
| In office 9 July 2024 – 14 January 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer |
| Chancellor | Rachel Reeves |
| Preceded by | Bim Afolami |
| Succeeded by | Emma Reynolds |
| Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 4 December 2021 – 5 July 2024 | |
| Leader | Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Pat McFadden |
| Succeeded by | Alan Mak |
| Shadow Minister for Children and Early Years | |
| In office 7 January 2020 – 4 December 2021 | |
| Leader | Jeremy Corbyn Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Tracy Brabin |
| Succeeded by | Helen Hayes |
| In office 9 October 2016 – 26 January 2017 | |
| Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Preceded by | Jenny Chapman |
| Succeeded by | Tracy Brabin |
| Member of Parliament forHampstead and Highgate Hampstead and Kilburn (2015–2024) | |
| Assumed office 7 May 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Glenda Jackson |
| Majority | 13,970 (28.8%) |
| Camden London Borough Councillor forRegent's Park | |
| In office 6 May 2010 – 22 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Theodore Blackwell |
| Succeeded by | Nadia Shah |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Tulip Rizwana Siddiq[1] (1982-09-16)16 September 1982 (age 43) St Helier, London, England |
| Party | Labour |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Tungipara Sheikh family (maternal family) |
| Residence(s) | Barnet, London, England |
| Alma mater | |
| Profession | Politician |
| Website | www |
Tulip Rizwana SiddiqFRSA (born 16 September 1982) is a British-Bangladeshi politician who has been theMember of Parliament (MP) forHampstead and Highgate, previouslyHampstead and Kilburn, since2015. She served asEconomic Secretary to the Treasury andCity Minister from 9 July 2024[2][3] until her resignation on 14 January 2025, following allegations of misconduct, including her connections to theousted Bangladeshi regime.[4]
She is a niece of the ousted formerPrime Minister of Bangladesh,Sheikh Hasina.[5]On 13 April 2025, Bangladesh issued anarrest warrant for Siddiq as part of investigations into corruption duringSheikh Hasina's premiership,[6] and on 1 December 2025 she was convictedin absentia and sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine.[7]
Tulip Siddiq was born on 16 September 1982 inSutton, London. She is the daughter of former Dhaka University professorShafique Ahmed Siddique,[8][9][10] andSheikh Rehana,[8] who gained political asylum in the UK as a teenager.[11] The two met when Shafique Siddique was studying for a PhD,[12] and married in Kilburn in 1980. Siddiq was born inSt Helier Hospital[10] inSt Helier, London, and has an elder brother,Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby,[13][14][15] and a younger sister, Azmina Siddiq.[16] When she was 15, the family moved toHampstead.[17] She was raised a Muslim and has said that her "family embraced multicultural Britain".
She attendedScholastica, Dhaka, Bangladesh,[18]The Royal School, Hampstead,[19] andMill Hill School[20] before completing herundergraduate degree in English Literature atUniversity College London and then a master's degree atKing's College London. In September 2011, she completed a second master's degree in Politics, Policy and Government.[21]
Her maternal grandfather isSheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader, secondprime minister of Bangladesh, and its firstpresident.[14] Her mother's elder sister,Sheikh Hasina, was prime minister of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001 and from 2009 until her resignation amid theJuly Revolution in 2024.[22][23]
In 2017, Siddiq said she was British, not Bangladeshi, but Bangladeshi officials stated that she heldBangladeshi citizenship, having had multipleBangladeshi passports, an id card and with her name in the voter registry. Siddiq's lawyer denied these Bangladeshi documents existed, and suggested they were fabrications.[24] However, a collaborated investigation byProthom Alo daily inDhaka andThe Times inLondon documented evidence revealing that Siddiq held a national identity card (NID) as a Bangladeshi citizen, was registered to vote in Bangladesh, and also held a Bangladeshi passport.[25][26]
At the age of 16, Siddiq joined theLabour Party.[17] Her father suffered a stroke, which left him disabled[11] and unable to speak for five years.[12][11] She has cited theNational Health Service and the care her disabled father received as the reason why she joined.[27] She identified former Labour ministerBarbara Castle as her political heroine,[10] and has described her mother and maternal aunt as "two very strong feminists".[28]
In a 2006 by-election, Siddiq stood unsuccessfully forCamden Council.[10] In the2010 local government elections, she became the first female Bangladeshi councillor for Camden Council, forRegent's Park ward, where she was Cabinet Member for Culture and Communities untilMay 2014.[29][30]
Circa 2009, she worked for the BangladeshAwami League political party in the UK and EU lobbying unit and election strategy team, and appeared on BBC television as a spokesperson for the Awami League.[31][32]
In July 2013, Siddiq was selected by local party members as the Labourprospective parliamentary candidate for theHampstead and Kilburn constituency,[27][33][34][35][36] despite asmear campaign.[30] She later said that because of her Muslim surname, she was advised against standing in the constituency by senior party members, due to Hampstead's large Jewish population.[37] During 2013 and 2014, she campaigned against the proposed high-speed railway expansionHigh Speed 2,[38] and highpayday lender charges onKilburn High Road.[27] She also campaigned in support of local services, such as to keepBelsize Fire Station open,[39] to improve disabled access atWest Hampstead tube station,[40] and to save theSwiss Cottage post office.[41]
At the2015 general election, Siddiq was elected to Parliament as MP forHampstead and Kilburn with 44.4% of the vote and a majority of 1,138.[42][43][44][45][46]
In June 2015, Siddiq was appointed a vice-chair of theAll-Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism.[47][48] She is also a member of theWomen and Equalities Select Committee.[49] In the same month, she was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominateJeremy Corbyn as a candidate in theLabour leadership election,[50] although she later supportedAndy Burnham.[51]
In September 2015, Siddiq, along withKeir Starmer andCatherine West, wrote a letter to British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron seeking urgent action to address therefugee crisis due to theSyrian civil war.[52][53][54] In the same month, she was appointed Permanent Private Secretary to the Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport,Michael Dugher.[55][56] In November 2015, she campaigned against changes to junior doctor contracts.[57] In the same month, Siddiq's maiden speech in Parliament was judged one of the top seven from 2015's intake of MPs by the BBC.[58] In October 2016, she was appointed as Shadow Education Minister in theLabour Party's frontbench in Parliament,[59][60] taking on the childcare and early years education brief and working withShadow Secretary of State for EducationAngela Rayner.[61]
In November 2016, Siddiq supported a motion in Parliament for the UK to withdraw support for theSaudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.[62] In January 2017, she resigned from the Labour frontbench over Labour'sthree-line whip, to vote against triggeringArticle 50 of the Treaty on European Union. She stated that because around 75% of her Hampstead and Kilburn constituency had voted to remain in the European Union as one of the top 10 remain areas, she could not support Labour's position though with a "heavy heart".[63][64] She won an endorsement from Camden for Europe,Open Britain andBest for Britain, due to her decision to vote against Article 50.[65] In May 2017, ahead of the2017 general election, Siddiq supported a group of Labour MPs who argued Labour should stand down in certainGreen party target seats where they were more likely than Labour to defeat the Consevatives.[66]
At the snap2017 general election, Siddiq was re-elected as MP for Hampstead and Kilburn with an increased vote share of 59% and an increased majority of 15,560.[67][68]
In August 2017, Siddiq called for businesses to "address imbalance" in the employment of people from ethnic minorities to improve the diversity of its workforce.[69] In September 2017, she was appointed as Chair of the new Childcare and Early Education All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).[70] In the same month, she wrote to theHome Office to ask for children's passports to be amended to contain both their parents' names to avoid confusion at airports and borders. She had been stopped with her daughter at UK border control whilst returning from a family holiday until her husband joined them, because she did not have the same surname in her passport as her child.[71][72][73]
In November 2017, whilst campaigning for the release of her constituent, the British-Iranian citizenNazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was detained inIran, she was asked byAlex Thomson ofChannel 4 News andITN about using her family ties to the Bangladeshi government, led by her aunt, in order to liberate British BangladeshibarristerAhmad Bin Quasem, who is thought to have been abducted by state security forces in Bangladesh. The programme's editor,Ben de Pear, complained about Siddiq's "threatening behaviour" to a pregnant producer, while Siddiq complained to the police about her interlocutors.[74][75][76] She later apologised in a statement to the producer, Daisy Ayliffe, for the offence caused.[75]
In May 2018, Siddiq supported anequal pay campaign aimed at building pressure on employers.[77] In the same month, she described the actions of theIsraeli military duringdemonstrations on the Gaza border as "unjustified" and "inhumane". She said: "I condemn without reservation these violations of international law and human rights by Israel... The protest has been twofold – to highlight the shocking conditions which Palestinians are forced to live in and to demand theirright to return to their homes..."[78] In August 2018, she joined international calls for her aunt's government to release Bangladeshi photographerShahidul Alam, who had been jailed after reporting about protests by schoolchildren over road safety problems, and had subsequently stated he was tortured.[79][80]
Siddiq’s British-Iranian constituentNazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested and detained in April 2016 while visiting Iran, for allegedly plotting against the government, charges she always disputed.
In 2017, giving evidence to the foreign affairs select committee as foreign secretary at the time, Boris Johnson said Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been in Tehran to train journalists[81], when she had travelled to Iran to see her parents with her child, Gabriella. Johnson’s remarks were seized upon by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and following pressure from the Zahari-Ratcliffe family[82] and their MP Tulip Siddiq he was forced to apologise.[83]
Siddiq led the parliamentary and media campaigning, repeatedly securing parliamentary time to raise the case, calling on the Conservative administration to ‘do everything possible’ as part of their ‘moral and consular duty.’[84]
Zaghari-Ratcliffe release
When Nazanin was released and returned to the UK in March 2022, Siddiq was among those publicly celebrating the outcome and described the release as “the highlight of my career.”[85] Nazanin had said Siddiq was ‘one of the first people she wanted to see’ upon her return.[86]
Siddiq gave a welcome home message in the House of Commons to her constituent, paying tribute to Nazanin’s husband Richard for his campaign, saying ‘he had set the bar high for all husbands.’[87] Siddiq was applauded in the Commons as she thanked MPs who campaigned to help secure Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release.
For her advocacy on Nazanin’s behalf, Siddiq received an award from the organisation Hostage Aid.[88]
Siddiq was again re-elected at the2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 48.9% and a decreased majority of 14,188.[89][90]
Due to the2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Siddiq's constituency of Hampstead and Kilburn was abolished, and replaced withHampstead and Highgate. At the2024 general election, Siddiq was elected to Parliament as MP for Hampstead and Highgate with 48.3% of the vote and a majority of 14,970.[91]
In December 2024, Bangladesh'sAnti-Corruption Commission (ACC) named Siddiq in an investigation into infrastructure projects, including a 2013 deal with Russia forRooppur Nuclear Power Plant, in which it is claimed up to £3.9 billion was embezzled. Siddiq attended the nuclear deal's signing at theKremlin alongside her aunt Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and Russian PresidentVladimir Putin. The investigation was started through a court application brought by a political opponent of Siddiq's aunt.[92][93] Siddiq's current parliamentary brief includes regulating corruption in the financial sector.[92] On 19 December, Siddiq had a meeting with theCabinet Office Propriety and Ethics Team to discuss the allegations.[94][95] Following theFinancial Times reporting that a developer with links to the Awami League gave a flat bought in 2001 for £195,000 to Siddiq without charge in 2004, rather than being a gift from her parents as previously reported, Siddiq referred herself on 6 January 2025 to the prime minister'sIndependent Adviser on Ministers' Interests to independently establish the facts.[96] She later stated the flat was a gift from her non-political godfather, although two years earlier she had told a newspaper that her parents had bought the flat for her.[97] Siddiq continued to be subject to considerable media attention about her political future after the announcement.[98][99][100]
The ACC later named Siddiq in another investigation into the alleged illegal allocation of 21,600 square feet (0.5 acres) of diplomatic zone land to Siddiq's mother and siblings. The affidavit filed by the ACC stated "it is known that [Ms Siddiq] exerted pressure and influence ... for the allotment of plots in the same project in the names of her mother, Mrs Rehana Siddiq, her sister Ms Azmina Siddiq, and her brother Mr Radwan Mujib Siddiq." A spokesperson said that Siddiq rebutted the claim.[101][102] In April 2025, a Bangladeshi judge issued an arrest warrant for Siddiq related to the land transfer.[103][104]
On 14 January 2025, the Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests report was published, in which he stated while he found no evidence of improprieties it was regrettable Siddiq "was not more alert to the potential reputational risks", but the shortcomings were not a breach of theMinisterial Code, though he advised the prime minister to "consider her ongoing responsibilities".[105][106] Later that day Siddiq resigned from government, stating that although she had not breached the ministerial code, the ethics investigation was a distraction from the work of government.[105][107]
Siddiq was a board member of West Euston Partnership and is governor of the Camden and IslingtonNHS Foundation Trust.[22] She served as national BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) Officer forYoung Labour and Women's Officer forLondon Young Labour. She is an executive board member ofUnite the Union, a member of theCo-operative Party, a fellow of theRoyal Society of Arts and is also a member of the Commonwealth Journalists Association (UK).[21] She also oversaw Camden's engagement with the2012 London Olympics, which saw the launch of three legacy schemes to encourage more physical activities, Camden Sports Academy, School and Community Games, and Pro-Active Ambassadors.[108]
In January 2013, Siddiq was named in the "British Bangladeshi Power & Inspiration 100".[8] In December 2014, she was named byThe Guardian as "one to watch" in British politics.[109] In April 2015,The Sunday Times described her as one of the "rising stars" of the Labour Party.[110][111]
In December 2022, Siddiq was shortlisted for the New Statesman Positive Impact Award for her campaign for the releases of her constituent Nazanin Zahari Ratcliffe from detention in Iran. Of the award, Siddiq said: “getting my constituent Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe home earlier this year will likely be one of the biggest victories of my political life. After spending six years of sleepless nights wondering if she will ever be reunited with her husband and young daughter, her safe return home made me feel like my work does make a difference.”[112]
In November 2017, Siddiq apologised for offensive remarks directed at a pregnantChannel 4 producer. The incident occurred after the producer questioned Siddiq about her perceived failure to address theenforced disappearance of British-trained barristerMir Ahmad Bin Quasem in Bangladesh during her auntSheikh Hasina's tenure as Prime Minister, a government widely criticized for human rights abuses and authoritarian rule. Siddiq said that she could not answer, having no place in Bangladeshi intelligence or government, nationality or citizenship, being a British-born UK citizen working in the British government.
After the interview with Channel 4 News reporter Alex Thomson, Siddiq is quoted as saying to the producer "Thanks Daisy for coming. Hope you have a great birth because child labour is hard." Thomson interpreted this as a "hostile statement" and complained to several bodies and organisations about the apparent threat.[113] In 2018, Siddiq praisedSheikh Hasina, calling her a "great role model" for her daughter.[114]
In 2019, Siddiq denied involvement inBangladeshi politics but faced accusations of utilizingAwami League supporters in herHampstead and Kilburn campaign.[115] Footage from a 2017 meeting showed her expressing gratitude to these supporters, stating, "Without your support, I would not have been able to win my seat."[116] Previously, she acknowledged working for the Awami League's EU and UK lobbying unit and election strategy team. TwoLabour officials also claimed that the Awami League supported her2024 election campaign.[117]
In 2015, Siddiq spoke at an event for theCentre for Research and Information (CRI), a group accused of disseminating misinformation in support of Sheikh Hasina's government. Siddiq praised her aunt's leadership at the event, despite later attempts to distance herself from Bangladeshi politics.[118]
In August 2024, it was revealed that Siddiq resided in a property owned by a businessman with close ties to the Awami League.[119] Two years earlier, she faced scrutiny for living in a home owned bySalman F Rahman, an Awami League minister and business tycoon. The property was registered under Rahman's son through an offshore company in theIsle of Man.[119]
In January 2025, it was revealed that Siddiq was gifted a flat in London in 2004 by Abdul Motalif, a property developer linked to the Awami League.[120] Following these revelations, she referred herself to theministerial standards watchdog for an independent investigation.[121] In the same month,The Telegraph reported that Siddiq, along with Awami LeagueMPKazi Nabil Ahmed, attended two matches of the2019 Cricket World Cup as a freebie. The cost of each ticket was£358.80, including lunch.[122][123][124]
In July 2024, theParliamentary Commissioner for Standards investigated Siddiq for failing to declare income from a rental property. The commissioner concluded that the omission was "inadvertent" and accepted Siddiq's explanation for the late registration.[125][126]
In December 2024,Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission named Siddiq in an investigation alleging embezzlement of up to£3,900,000,000 from infrastructure projects.[127] She was alleged to have helped set up a meeting with the Russian government in 2013 to discuss theRooppur Nuclear Power Plant. The allegations involved her family, including her aunt, ousted prime ministerSheikh Hasina.[128][129] The claims originated from a legal case filed by Bobby Hajjaj, a political opponent of Hasina's party.[130][131] Siddiq denied any involvement, and thePrime Minister's Office stated on 19 December 2024 that Prime MinisterKeir Starmer maintained confidence in her asEconomic Secretary to the Treasury.[132] Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) confirmed it is liaising with almost twelve countries to repatriate money allegedly laundered by Tulip Siddiq and her families.[133]
She resigned her ministerial position on 14 January 2025, maintaining her innocence but acknowledging that the ongoing situation could distract from the government's work. Prime Minister Keir Starmer accepted her resignation, noting that no evidence of financial misconduct had been found. The UK Anti-Corruption Coalition had called for Siddiq to relinquish her economic crime responsibilities due to a potential conflict of interest, given her family ties to the deposed regime in Bangladesh.[4][134]
On 13 April 2025, the ACC issued an arrest warrant against Siddiq as part of an investigation into her alleged involvement in corruption during Sheikh Hasina's premiership, with Siddiq being accused of illegally receiving land. Siddiq's lawyers noted that she denies the charges, which they said were "politically motivated", adding that the ACC had not brought forward any evidence to support its arrest warrant.[135]
Siddiq was tried in-absentia alongside 26 others, on 11 August 2025 in Bangladesh over allegations she illegally received a plot of land in theDhaka diplomatic zone.[136] On 1 December 2025, she was convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine of 100,000taka (£620). The UK does not have an extradition treaty with Bangladesh and it seems unlikely Siddiq will serve the sentence. She faces a number of further charges. The Labour Party stated that it would not recognise the judgment nor subject her to party disciplinary action due to the conviction.[7] Siddiq responded to the conviction saying "The outcome of this kangaroo court is as predictable as it is unjustified. I hope this so-called 'verdict' will be treated with the contempt it deserves."[137]
Siddiq is aMuslim, but said she is "more cultural than religious".[19][23] In 2013, she married Christian Percy, a strategy consultant who formerly worked in theForeign and Commonwealth Office.[138][139] In April 2016, Siddiq gave birth to a daughter at theRoyal Free Hospital in Hampstead.[140][141] She gave birth to a son in January 2019.[142] Two days before the birth she attended the Commons in a wheelchair, for a criticalBrexit-relatedvote.[142] On 29 January 2019, following a change inHouse of Commons standing orders, she became the first ever MP to vote by proxy.[143]
Since becoming an MP, Siddiq has spoken atLimmud and attends synagogue events.[144] In April 2019, she announced that a relative had died in the2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings.[145]
Siddiq and her family live in a semi-detached house inEast Finchley rented from an official of the London branch of the Bangladesh Awami League.[96][146][31]
In 2024, theFinancial Times reported that Siddiq's and Labour leaderKeir Starmer's families were close friends.[93]
{{cite news}}:|last2= has generic name (help){{cite news}}:|last2= has generic name (help)
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forHampstead and Kilburn 2015–2024 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forHampstead and Highgate 2024–present | Incumbent |
| Premiership | |
|---|---|
| Governments | |
| Elections | |
| Family |
|
| Related |
|
