Simply 74 days into her new position as residence secretary, Shabana Mahmood has unveiled what she calls “probably the most substantial reform to the UK’s asylum system in a technology”.
Immigration is at present considered as a very powerful problem dealing with the nation, adopted by the economic system. Whereas many, particularly inside the Labour get together, have lengthy discovered border management an ungainly terrain, Mahmood’s stance is unambiguous: “I simply don’t know why we’ve acquired ourselves in a tangle speaking about migration controls on the left of politics … it’s actually fairly basic to the way in which a variety of our voters suppose.”
Her proposals are, broadly, supposed to discourage unlawful immigration by making the UK a much less enticing vacation spot for asylum seekers. Mahmood has proposed, amongst different issues: making refugee standing extra non permanent, reforming human rights laws to make it more durable for unlawful migrants to stay within the UK and suspending UK visas for international locations that refuse to simply accept returned migrants.
Some on the left of Labour have already condemned the proposals. However figures on the political proper have applauded Mahmood’s assertion that uncontrolled asylum and immigration are contributing to social division.
Past the coverage substance, Mahmood’s Commons supply attracted reward from the best: assured, assured and like a future chief. Former Conservative minister Michael Gove has referred to as Mahmood the “standout determine” of the present authorities, describing her as having “a very coherent worldview”.
How did Mahmood, who as soon as said that she personally supported a normal amnesty for all undocumented staff, turn into the face of a hardline Labour migration coverage, lauded by the political proper?
Journey of a politician
Born in Birmingham, to Kashmiri Pakistani Muslim mother and father, Mahmood spent a part of her early childhood in Saudi Arabia, the place her father labored as a civil engineer, earlier than returning to Birmingham.
Her household life was steeped in politics. Her father chaired the Birmingham Labour Occasion and was recognized regionally as an sincere dealer who mediated neighbourhood disputes. Her mom ran the household’s nook store – giving Mahmood a “shopkeeper’s daughter” background paying homage to one other formidable lady in British politics. She cites Margaret Thatcher as one in all her heroes, alongside Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s first feminine prime minister.
Her political consciousness sharpened after 9/11. She discovered herself being held “accountable” by strangers for occasions 1000’s of miles away. She had skilled racism earlier than, her first encounter was at age eight. However the post-9/11 shift was of a special magnitude, which she described as a “shock to the system”.
Elected in 2010 as one of many first feminine Muslim MPs, she rapidly entered the shadow cupboard. She prevented frontbench roles beneath Jeremy Corbyn, citing incompatible financial views. Underneath Keir Starmer, she served as nationwide marketing campaign coordinator and labored carefully with strategist Morgan McSweeney. She can also be seen as having performed a big position within the essential 2021 Batley and Spen byelection.
Mahmood speaks brazenly about her British Muslim id and the sense of accountability that comes with public visibility. “It’s important to settle for the broader position that it’s important to play,” she has stated, noting that many British Muslims instinctively look to her as a consultant determine.
And but, Mahmood’s personal electoral base has shifted dramatically. Her majority in Birmingham Ladywood fell from almost 30,000 in 2019 – one of many largest within the nation – to simply 3,400 in 2024, after a robust problem from an impartial pro-Gaza candidate.
She has additionally confronted robust criticism for her abstention from a November 2023 vote on an modification to the King’s Speech calling for a right away ceasefire in Gaza.
Mahmood has in recent times assumed a markedly harder line on immigration. This shift is mirrored as a lot in her language and elegance, as within the insurance policies she is advocating. Her presentation leans closely right into a no-nonsense, get-the-job-done method.
She has harassed that she is the “the kid of immigrants” whose mother and father “got here right here legally” and performed by the foundations. She establishes a agency boundary between lawful migration and the unlawful immigration she argues now defines the damaged asylum system.
Reputational defend?
Earlier than changing into residence secretary, she had already earned admiration for her dealing with of what was arguably probably the most daunting early task of the 2024 Labour authorities. As justice secretary, she confronted a jail system working at 99% capability. She launched an early launch programme that risked perceptions of being “smooth on crime,” but navigated the controversy with minimal turbulence.
A skilled barrister who as soon as dreamed of changing into “Kavanagh QC”, Mahmood brings authorized experience and a rule-of-law method to immigration debates. Themes of “equity” and “public consent” seem all through her asylum coverage proposals.
Her fashion is exact, technocratic and intellectually disciplined. These are qualities which assist Labour toughen its immigration platform with out showing purely performative.
However Mahmood additionally performs a symbolic position. When political events transfer rightwards on immigration, they usually place minority politicians in distinguished roles to supply a “reputational defend”. This permits them to advance stricter insurance policies whereas deflecting accusations of intolerance.
Conservative governments spent greater than a decade deploying this technique within the Residence Workplace. Sajid Javid, Priti Patel and Suella Braverman all embodied the dynamic. Labour, traditionally, has positioned far fewer minorities in prime portfolios, which makes Mahmood’s appointment all of the extra notable. In some respects, Labour now seems to be adopting an method beforehand related to its opponents.
Regardless of her expertise in electoral technique, Mahmood insists the asylum reforms are usually not an try to win again Reform UK voters or to place Labour tactically. As a substitute, she frames them as a response to “the real issues of the British folks” and an effort to rebuild belief in a system that has misplaced public confidence. It’s a gamble that locations the load of Labour’s promise of competence squarely on the Residence Workplace, and on Mahmood’s potential to ship it.
