54 Facts About Anas Sarwar

Anas Sarwar was born on 14 March 1983 and is a Scottish Labour and Co-operative politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party since 2021.

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.

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, Chaudhry Sarwar.

Anas Sarwar lost his seat to the Scottish National Party at the 2015 general election.

Anas Sarwar was elected at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election on the Glasgow regional list.

Anas Sarwar led Scottish Labour into the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, which saw Scottish Labour remain in opposition with two fewer Labour MSPs than at the previous election.

Anas Sarwar was defeated by incumbent First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in Glasgow Southside but was returned on the Glasgow regional list.

Anas Sarwar was born on 14 March 1983 in Glasgow, the youngest of four children.

Anas Sarwar's parents were Perveen Sarwar and Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar, both Pakistani Muslims.

Anas Sarwar attended Hutchesons' Grammar School, a private school in Glasgow, before completing a degree in general dentistry at the University of Glasgow from 2000 to 2005.

Anas Sarwar worked as an NHS dentist in Paisley from 2005 until 2009.

Anas Sarwar began campaigning for the Labour Party as a child of "nine or ten" and joined the party at the age of fifteen or sixteen.

Anas Sarwar's father was elected as the Labour MP for Glasgow Govan in 1997, becoming the UK's first Muslim MP.

In that year, Anas Sarwar received an envelope containing a threat against his mother.

Anas Sarwar served as an executive member of Scottish Young Labour and later joined the Co-operative Party, a party which stands candidates jointly with the Labour Party, as well as the Fabian Society, the trades unions Unite and Community, and the pressure group Progress.

Anas Sarwar was selected as the lead regional list candidate for the Glasgow Scottish Parliament electoral region for the 2007 election.

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.

Anas Sarwar was not elected, later saying that standing as a list candidate had been a chance "to prove himself", and that he had had "no chance" of success given his party's success in winning constituency seats under the additional member system.

Anas Sarwar's father announced his retirement as the MP for Glasgow Central in February 2007.

Later that year, Anas Sarwar was selected as the Labour candidate for the seat at the 2010 general election.

Anas Sarwar opposed privatisation of the NHS but supported the use of private finance initiative schemes to build schools.

Anas Sarwar was elected by colleagues to serve on the International Development Select Committee.

Anas Sarwar said that his parliamentary interests included foreign policy and international development, and that he wanted to "use his parliamentary platform to make a difference on" conflicts in Palestine and Kashmir.

In 2013, Anas Sarwar took a strong line in attacking both the "bedroom tax" and accused the Scottish Government of failure to mitigate its worst effects.

Anas Sarwar was criticised for his absence by the Scottish National Party.

In 2014, Anas Sarwar was criticised by SNP politicians for sending his son to Hutchesons' Grammar School, a private school and the same school that he himself attended, instead of a state school.

From November 2014 until May 2015, Anas Sarwar served as Shadow Minister for International Development.

Anas Sarwar defended the UK-wide Labour Party, and said that Price "resigned from his position as general secretary and I think we should respect his position".

At the 2015 general election, Anas Sarwar lost his seat to Alison Thewliss of the SNP.

Anas Sarwar was elected as an additional member in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election for the Glasgow region.

Anas Sarwar was opposed to leaving the European Union and said that the UK needed to stay in the single market in order to counter the Conservatives' austerity policies.

However, on BBC Radio 4 in April 2023 Anas Sarwar, while expressing hope that Labour would do well in 2024 in the wake of the SNP's troubles, ruled out any plan to rejoin the EU, or to join its single market, or to join its customs union.

Anas Sarwar sought advice from the police after creating a working group on Islamophobia.

Anas Sarwar was characterised by opponents as being on the right of the Labour Party and a Blairite, which he repudiated, describing himself as a Brownite.

Anas Sarwar called the Iraq War "the worst foreign policy decision in my lifetime".

Anas Sarwar defended sending his children to a private school, saying he and his wife had done what they "thought was best for [their] children".

Anas Sarwar was criticised by opponents after it emerged that his family firm was advertising job vacancies with pay below the recommended living wage.

Anas Sarwar was replaced as health and sport spokesperson by Monica Lennon in October 2018.

Anas Sarwar said he had only learnt of the sacking on the social media platform Twitter.

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".

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.

Anas Sarwar requested on behalf of Main's mother, a constituent of his, a response from the first minister Nicola Sturgeon.

In November 2020, Anas Sarwar was appointed as Scottish Labour's spokesperson for the constitution.

Anas Sarwar called the United Kingdom "fundamentally broken", and said that there should be more devolution of power from Westminster to Holyrood, and from Holyrood to communities.

Anas Sarwar confirmed Scottish Labour's opposition to renewing the Trident nuclear programme.

Anas Sarwar was criticised for the decision by figures on the left of the Labour Party.

Anas Sarwar supports replacing the House of Lords with an elected senate that would represent nations and regions.

In November 2022, Declassified UK said that Anas Sarwar was a member of the lobbying group British-American Project.

Anas Sarwar himself ran as both a list candidate and as constituency candidate for Glasgow Southside, which the first minister Nicola Sturgeon represented.

Anas Sarwar ran as a Scottish Labour and Co-operative candidate for the first time in this election.

Anas Sarwar said that candidates would need to stand on a platform of Scotland remaining in the UK, and that "when it comes to Scottish Labour, I'm in charge".

Anas Sarwar is married to Furheen Anas Sarwar, who works as an NHS dentist.

In September 2017, Anas Sarwar transferred his shareholding to a discretionary trust for the benefit of his three children, so that he could not personally access the assets or dividends.

Anas Sarwar is the president of the Sarwar Foundation, and is teetotal.