18 Facts About Murad Qureshi

Murad Qureshi is a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician, and a former Member of the London Assembly.

Murad Qureshi attended Quintin Kynaston School and graduated from the University of East Anglia with a degree in Development Studies in 1987, before undertaking an MSc in Environmental Economics at University College London, which he completed in 1993.

Murad Qureshi is of Bangladeshi descent, and comes from a politically active family: his late father Mushtaq Murad Qureshi was a Labour Party councillor in the City of Westminster and was a freedom fighter in the Bangladesh War of Liberation.

Murad Qureshi's youngest sister, Papya Qureshi, was a councillor in Westminster.

Murad Qureshi was a councillor for Church Street on Westminster City Council from 1998 to 2006, and was elected on the Labour Party's party list to the London Assembly at the 2004 Assembly election.

Murad Qureshi was re-elected at the 2008 election and again at the 2012 Assembly election.

Murad Qureshi failed to be re-elected at the 2016 election; because Labour gained constituency seats, it lost seats from its party list, which Qureshi was on.

Murad Qureshi was Chair of the London Assembly's Environment Committee and a Member of the Transport Committee.

From 2004 to 2006, Murad Qureshi was a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Murad Qureshi lost his seat in 2016, but returned to the assembly in 2020 following the resignation of Fiona Twycross.

Murad Qureshi was third on the Labour list for the 2021 election, and was not re-elected.

At the 2018 and 2022 local elections, Murad Qureshi stood in Little Venice ward on Westminster City Council, but was unsuccessful on both occasions.

Murad Qureshi has worked for many years to raise awareness of the crucial role of remittances in international development with his last letter in the Financial Times generating much debate.

In 2007, Murad Qureshi hosted a meeting at City Hall which launched the Cambridge IGCSEs in Bangladesh, Pakistan and India Studies with Amartya Sen's support.

Murad Qureshi closely follows political developments in South Asia, and was in Bangladesh for the parliamentary elections in December 2008.

Murad Qureshi is Chairman of Capital SERA, the London branch of SERA.

Murad Qureshi contributes regular columns to the Morning Star, The China Daily, Tribune and the Westminster Extra.

Murad Qureshi has a music record named after him, and has financially backed a British film Shongram, which is a romantic drama, set during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation struggle.