1. Salma Yaqoob was born on 15 August 1971 and is a British political activist and psychotherapist who served as the Leader of the Respect Party from 2005 until 2012, representing the party on Birmingham City Council.
35 Facts About Salma Yaqoob
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Salma Yaqoob led the Birmingham Stop the War Coalition and is a patron of Stop the War Coalition UK.
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Salma Yaqoob unsuccessfully stood to be the Labour Party candidate for Mayor of the West Midlands in the 2021 mayoral election, finishing third out of three candidates.
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Salma Yaqoob has been a spokesperson for Birmingham Central Mosque.
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Salma Yaqoob was born in Bradford on 15 August 1971: the family later moved to Birmingham, where she was raised.
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Salma Yaqoob describes herself as having been a "tomboyish girl" who played football on the streets of Alum Rock.
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Salma Yaqoob is employed as a Community Engagement Senior Manager at the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.
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Salma Yaqoob was re-elected to the post in May 2010.
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Salma Yaqoob stood in the 2010 general election for the Respect Party in the Birmingham Hall Green constituency, and came second to Roger Godsiff of the Labour Party, trailing by 3,799 votes.
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Salma Yaqoob was endorsed by then-Green Party leader Caroline Lucas and the retiring Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak, Lynne Jones.
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In 2011 Salma Yaqoob claimed to have been offered a choice of two 'safe seats' by the Labour Party, one in Birmingham and one in the Black Country, in the lead-up to the 2010 general election.
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Salma Yaqoob became the leader of the Respect Party, making her the only Muslim female leader of a Parliamentary political party in British history.
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At a Birmingham City Council meeting in early February 2011, Salma Yaqoob and another Respect Party councillor, Mohammed Ishtiaq, sat with their arms folded and refused to participate in a standing ovation at a meeting at which Britain's most highly decorated serving marine and Afghanistan veteran Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher, GC, RMR was a guest.
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Salma Yaqoob has made six appearances on the panel of BBC One's Question Time programme.
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Salma Yaqoob returned in Preston, followed by her home town of Birmingham on 8 February 2007 and Bath on 12 February 2009.
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Salma Yaqoob stated that she "would be proud to have my sons defend this country" and argued for better support for UK troops and their withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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Salma Yaqoob made her sixth appearance on the show on Thursday 10 June 2010, when it was broadcast from Plymouth.
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Salma Yaqoob was joined on the panel by Ben Bradshaw, Jeremy Hunt, Katie Hopkins and Toby Young.
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Salma Yaqoob has made appearances on The Politics Show, This Week, Daily Politics, 10 O'Clock Live, and Frost Over The World.
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On 7 July 2011, Salma Yaqoob announced her intention to stand down as a Birmingham City councillor, citing health reasons.
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On 11 September 2012, Salma Yaqoob announced her resignation from the Respect Party after what she described as a difficult few weeks and a breakdown in relations.
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In December 2015, it was reported that Salma Yaqoob had applied to become a Labour Party member in Hall Green.
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Salma Yaqoob co-led the "Hands off Birmingham schools" group, which was set up in 2014 in response to Operation Trojan Horse.
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In 2014 episode of Question Time which went viral online, Salma Yaqoob called the then-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith "patronising" for his views on poverty.
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Salma Yaqoob stood in the 2017 general election as an independent candidate in the Bradford West constituency.
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Salma Yaqoob's standing was mired in controversy, after complaints by Labour HQ about her use of photographs of her with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and her claims that she was a pro-Corbyn candidate.
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In September 2019, Salma Yaqoob announced that she had applied for the Labour Party candidacy for Mayor of the West Midlands in the 2021 West Midlands mayoral election, an executive position responsible for the metropolitan county of the West Midlands despite her previous opposition to the Iraq war.
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Salma Yaqoob's application was criticised in a leaked email written by Labour MP Naz Shah published in October 2019.
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Salma Yaqoob has received death threats from Islamist and far right extremists.
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Salma Yaqoob believed she was being targeted for being a Muslim woman in the public eye and for working with churches and synagogues.
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Salma Yaqoob married her husband Aqil Chaudary, a GP, in 1996; they have three sons.
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In 2006, Salma Yaqoob received the Lloyds TSB Asian Jewel Award for Public Service Excellence, while Harper's Bazaar magazine named her in the top thirty list of British women, alongside Kate Winslet, all of whom they considered to be 'women shaping Britain'.
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Salma Yaqoob was included in the newspaper's list again in 2009.
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In 2009, Salma Yaqoob was included in the Muslim Women Power List run by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in association with The Times and Emel magazine.
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In 2010, The Guardian newspaper said Salma Yaqoob was "the most prominent Muslim woman in British public life".