Shabana Mahmood
Shabana Mahmood | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Official portrait, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 5 July 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Alex Chalk | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of Parliament for Birmingham Ladywood | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 6 May 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Clare Short | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Majority | 3,421 (9.4%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 17 September 1980 Small Heath, Birmingham, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Lincoln College, Oxford (BA) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Shabana Mahmood (born 17 September 1980) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice since 2024. She has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Ladywood since 2010, and is a member of the Labour Party.
In 2002 Mahmood graduated with a degree in law from Lincoln College, Oxford. She went on to complete the Bar Vocational Course at the Inns of Court School of Law in 2003. As a barrister her specialism is in professional indemnity. Her selection as the Labour Party candidate for Birmingham Ladywood for the 2010 general election caused some dissent in the constituency party, but was found by an inquiry led by a member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party to be legitimate. She became one of the first female Muslim MPs, along with Rushanara Ali and Yasmin Qureshi. Between 2010 and 2024, while the Labour Party was the Official Opposition, she held various shadow frontbench positions, including Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 2013 to 2015.
After the 2015 general election Mahmood was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet and served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the interim Shadow Cabinet of Harriet Harman. Following Jeremy Corbyn's election as Labour leader, Mahmood resigned from the position and declined to serve in Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet. She supported Owen Smith in the attempt to replace Corbyn at the 2016 leadership election. After serving on the backbenches between 2015 and 2021, Mahmood returned to the Shadow Cabinet in the May 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle under Starmer as the National Campaign Coordinator. In his September 2023 Shadow Cabinet reshuffle Starmer appointed Mahmood Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Lord Chancellor.
Following Labour's victory at the 2024 general election Mahmood was appointed Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice in the Starmer ministry. She has implemented an early release scheme for thousands of prisoners to reduce prison overcrowding.