31 Facts About Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was the Member of Parliament for Ochil and South Perthshire from 2015 to 2017.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh has been described as a key ally of former First Minister Alex Salmond, who led the Alba Party until his death in 2024.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh founded and formerly chaired the Scottish Asian Women's Association.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was born in Chelsea, London, in 1970, and was raised in Edinburgh.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh's mother is a half-Welsh, half-Czech actress who performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and completed a law degree in her retirement.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh moved to Britain in 1951, working first as a lecturer in English at the University of London and then as an insurance broker.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was the first Asian Conservative councillor in Scotland.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was educated at Craigmount High School, George Heriot's School in Edinburgh, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Strathclyde.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh has a sister who is a London-based barrister.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh starred in the Pakistani drama series Des Pardes.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh starred in the 2000 drama Aansoo, playing Imaan, the daughter of a mixed-race Scottish-Pakistani couple; the drama was filmed in both countries and was produced by her husband Zulfikar Sheikh.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh produced and appeared in The Castle: Aik Umeed.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh became a partner at the Glasgow law firm Hamilton Burns, specialising in commercial conveyancing and private client work, often with a family law or immigration element.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh admitted six other breaches of financial rules too but was cleared of any suggestion of dishonesty or a lack of integrity.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was active in the Scottish Conservatives from the age of 10 and a member from 16.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was chairperson of Edinburgh Central Young Conservatives and deputy spokeswoman for the party on women and family issues and equal opportunities.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh stood as the party's candidate in Glasgow Govan in the 1999 Scottish Parliament election, where she came in third place with 2,343 votes.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh briefly joined the Labour Party before declaring that she would join the Scottish National Party, and was welcomed as a 'defector'.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was unsuccessful, as were all the other Alba candidates in the election.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh spoke alongside Alex Salmond in North Macedonia the day that he died in October 2024.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was in fact sitting next to him at lunch when Salmond collapsed and died.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was struggling to open a bottle of ketchup, when Salmond reached over to help, before collapsing to the floor.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was described as being on the right-wing of the SNP, having asserted that the party's business policies were more typical of the centre-right.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh resigned as a trustee of SAWA after her election as an MP in 2015.

In January 2016, The Herald reported that during the period Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was chair, only a small proportion of the SAWA's income had been donated to charitable causes.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was involved with British Muslim Awards from its inception, presenting the awards at the inaugural ceremony in 2013 and in 2014.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh is a trustee of Scottish Women in Sport, a charity founded in 2013.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to business and to the Asian community in Scotland.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh is the owner of Slainte Media, a production company behind The Alex Salmond Show.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh regularly co-hosted the programme on RT, until the channel was closed down in March 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh wrote a column in The National for eight years, signing off in March 2023.