14 Facts About Ali Miraj

Mohammad Ali Miraj was born on October 1974 and is a British former Conservative Party parliamentary candidate, chartered accountant, and part-time DJ from London.

In 2001, after the September 11 attacks, Ali Miraj spoke at the 2001 Conservative Party conference in favour of military action in Afghanistan, saying: "As a British Muslim I find the [11 September] attacks even more difficult to bear".

Ali Miraj was a foreign affairs advisor to the Conservative Party from 2001 to 2003; he opposed the 2003 Iraq War, against his party line.

Ali Miraj appeared on a Newsnight debate in 2006 about the Middle East during the Lebanon war.

Ali Miraj was the candidate for Aberavon in the 2001 General Election, coming fourth with 2,296 votes.

Ali Miraj was the only ethnic minority candidate standing in Wales, when he was described as "a bit of a character, doing passable imitations of then leader William Hague".

Ali Miraj was on the shortlist for Wellingborough in 2003.

Ali Miraj was the candidate for Watford in the 2005 General Election, a marginal seat, coming third with 14,634 ; The Almanac of British Politics said he "did well not to be squeezed by the other two" main party candidates and journalist David Aaronovitch called him a "young, energetic DJ with an excellent website and a nimble way with policy".

Ali Miraj has worked as an auditor and an accountant for an investment bank.

Ali Miraj worked in syndicated finance and became director of infrastructure finance at ING Group in 2014.

Ali Miraj was a trustee of the Campaign to Protect Rural England from July 2009 to June 2014, and on the board of the UK Friends of The Abraham Fund Initiatives from May 2009 to February 2013.

Ali Miraj attended Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Elstree and then the London School of Economics.

Ali Miraj has worked as a part-time DJ since the early 2000s.

Ali Miraj founded and runs the annual Contrarian Prize, awarded to Michael Woodford in 2013, Clive Stafford Smith in 2014 and Simon Danczuk in 2015.