Anas Sarwar was born on 14 March 1983 and is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party since 2021.
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33 Facts About Anas Sarwar
2.
Anas Sarwar has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Glasgow region since 2016, having been Member of Parliament for Glasgow Central from 2010 to 2015.
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3.
Anas Sarwar worked in Paisley as a dentist until being elected as Member of Parliament for Glasgow Central at the 2010 general election when he succeeded his retiring father, Mohammad Sarwar.
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4.
Anas Sarwar lost his seat to the Scottish National Party at the 2015 general election.
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5.
Anas Sarwar led Scottish Labour into the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, which saw Scottish Labour return to opposition with two fewer Labour MSPs than at the previous election.
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6.
Anas Sarwar was defeated by incumbent First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in Glasgow Southside but was returned on the Glasgow regional list.
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7.
Anas Sarwar was born on 14 March 1983 in Glasgow to Perveen and Mohammad Anas Sarwar, both Pakistani Muslims.
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9.
Anas Sarwar became a member of Scottish Labour at the age of 16 and was an executive member of Scottish Young Labour.
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10.
Anas Sarwar later joined the Co-operative Party, Fabian Society, trade unions Unite and Community and pressure group Progress, of which he served as a vice-chair.
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11.
Anas Sarwar was a member of Labour's Scottish Policy Forum which was responsible for drawing-up the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for that election.
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12.
Anas Sarwar was elected at the 2010 general election as MP for Glasgow Central, succeeding his father Mohammad Anas Sarwar; who was the first-ever Muslim MP in the UK and increasing the previously held majority.
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13.
Anas Sarwar was elected by colleagues to serve on the International Development Select Committee.
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14.
Anas Sarwar was co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on anti-corruption and was a member of the Welfare Reform Bill Committee.
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15.
In January 2013, Anas Sarwar was awarded the Politician of the Year award at the British Muslim Awards.
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16.
In 2013, Anas Sarwar took a strong line in attacking both the "Bedroom Tax" and the Scottish Government for its failure to mitigate its worst effects.
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17.
In 2014, Anas Sarwar came under criticism for choosing to send his son to Hutchesons' Grammar School, an independent school and the same school that he himself attended, rather than a state school.
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18.
From 5 November 2014 until 8 May 2015, Anas Sarwar was Labour's Shadow Minister for International Development.
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19.
In December 2011, Anas Sarwar was elected Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party receiving 51.
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20.
Anas Sarwar was elected as an additional member in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election for the Glasgow region.
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21.
In November 2019, Anas Sarwar was given access to a leaked report from 2015 which had considered infection controls at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital to be at "high risk".
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22.
Anas Sarwar raised the leaked report's findings in a Scottish Parliament debate in which he criticised NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde for not closing certain hospital wards despite the report's findings.
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23.
Anas Sarwar requested on behalf on Main's mother, a constituent of his, a response from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
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24.
In November 2020, Anas Sarwar was made Scottish Labour Spokesperson for the Constitution.
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25.
Anas Sarwar led Scottish Labour into the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, which saw the worst result for Scottish Labour since devolution, with two fewer Labour MSPs returned than at the previous election.
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26.
Anas Sarwar says former Prime Minister Gordon Brown is one of his political heroes.
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27.
Anas Sarwar was opposed to leaving the European Union and insisted that the UK needed to stay in the single market in order to counter the Conservatives' austerity policies.
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28.
However, Anas Sarwar was criticised by opponents during 2017 Scottish Labour leadership election after it emerged that his family firm was advertising job vacancies with pay below the recommended living wage, calling into question the sincerity of his commitments to issues of poverty.
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29.
Anas Sarwar supports replacing the House of Lords with an elected senate that would represent nations and regions.
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30.
Anas Sarwar is married to Furheen, who works as an NHS dentist, and the couple have three young children.
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31.
Anas Sarwar owns a quarter share of his family's cash-and-carry wholesale business; his share was valued in 2016 as worth between £2.
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32.
In September 2017, Anas Sarwar transferred his shareholding to a discretionary trust for the benefit of his three young children, so that he could not personally access the assets or dividends.
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33.
Anas Sarwar is the president of the Sarwar Foundation, and is teetotal.
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