Faiza Shaheen
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Faiza Shaheen (born 1982) is a British
academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
and
economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
in the field of economic inequality. In 2018, she was selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Labour in Chingford and Woodford Green, coming second in the 2019 general election to the incumbent,
Iain Duncan Smith Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Le ...
. Shaheen was again selected by her local party in 2022 to stand in the constituency but was not endorsed by Labour in the July 2024 election. Shaheen stood as an independent in the constituency but was not elected. In 2023, her first book, ''Know Your Place'', was published.


Early life and education

Shaheen was born in 1982 in Whipps Cross University Hospital, Leytonstone, in East London and grew up in
Chingford Chingford is a suburban town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The centre of Chingford is north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walt ...
. Her father was a car mechanic from
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
and her mother was a laboratory technician from
Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
, Pakistan, where they met. She has a brother and a sister. She attended Chingford Church of England Primary School, Chingford Foundation School and Sir George Monoux College in
Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...
. Her first job was at Greggs in Chingford Mount. After studying
philosophy, politics and economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...
at St John's College, Oxford University, Shaheen studied at the
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
, being awarded an MSc in Research Methods & Statistics and a
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
. Her doctoral thesis (2008) was ''Identifying 'at-risk' neighbourhoods: Exploring the scope for an Index of Area Vulnerability.''


Career

Shaheen first worked at the Centre for Urban Policy Studies,
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
. In 2007, she joined the urban policy research charity, Centre for Cities. In 2009, she became senior researcher on economic inequality at the New Economics Foundation. In 2014, she was appointed Head of Inequality and Sustainable Development at the charity
Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...
UK. In 2016, Shaheen had a cameo role in the British
anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...
television series
Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology series, anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Most episodes are set in near-future dystopias containing Science fiction, sci-fi technology—a type of speculative fiction. The series i ...
. From 2016 to 2020, she was the director of the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS), a policy think tank originating from the trade union movement. Between 2021 and 2023, Shaheen was the Inequality and Exclusion Program Director at the Center on International Cooperation,
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
. In this role, she led the team authoring ''From Rhetoric to Action: Delivering Equality and Inclusion'', launched in September 2021 by seven Heads of State, comprising those from Spain, Sierra Leone, Sweden, Costa Rica, Ireland, New Zealand, and Senegal, as well as
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
laureate, Joseph Stiglitz and
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...
winner and SDG Advocate, Forest Whitaker, among others. She is a visiting
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
in practice at the International Inequalities Institute of the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
, where she teaches the Masters course on inequality. Shaheen is a regular participant in discussions on television news programmes, including '' Newsnight'' and ''
Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...
'', has worked with
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
and the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
to develop documentaries on inequality, and has participated in festival debates, such as the
Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
and
The World Transformed The World Transformed (or TWT) is a political festival, which until 2023 was held as an unaffiliated fringe event running at the same time as Labour Party Conference. Beginning in 2016, organisers describe its purpose as "to create a space in wh ...
. In 2023, Shaheen's first book, ''Know Your Place'', on social inequality in the UK, was published by
Simon and Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
. Shaheen wrote the book during evenings and weekends while working full-time at the LSE.


Parliamentary candidacies

Shaheen is a longtime Labour voter and says she has been politicised from an early age. She joined the Labour Party after
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...
became leader in
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
. In 2017, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' identified her as a "rising star" and she was nominated for Woman of the Year at the Asian Achievers Awards and named one of the Top 100 Influencers on the Left by LBC broadcaster, Iain Dale. Shaheen was selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party for Chingford and Woodford Green in July 2018. She has stated that her motivation for standing was the stress her own and other families had suffered as a result of welfare reforms instituted by the constituency's longstanding Conservative incumbent, Iain Duncan Smith, during his time as
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions The secretary of state for work and pensions, also referred to as the work and pensions secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Department for Work and P ...
. In the 2019 general election, Shaheen was endorsed by
Alastair Campbell Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster, and activist, who is known for his political roles during Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party. Campbell worked as Blair's spokesman an ...
,
Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as a charming and vulnerable romantic leading man, and has since transitioned into a character actor. He has received List of awards ...
, Ayesha Hazarika, Ewan Pearson and David Schneider. She increased Labour's vote share, contrary to the national trend, and garnered the party's largest ever vote share in the constituency, coming second by just over one thousand votes. In July 2022, Shaheen was selected again by her constituency party to contest the seat at the next general election. However, after the announcement of the 2024 general election, the Labour Party declined to endorse her candidacy, citing 'recent social media activity'. According to Shaheen, the posts in question were criticising Israel's actions in Gaza. The Labour Party replaced her with Shama Tatler, a Councillor in Brent and member of the pro-Israel Jewish Labour Movement. Shaheen then resigned from the Labour Party and stood as an independent candidate in the constituency. Shaheen's independent candidacy was endorsed by Ronnie O'Sullivan, the professional
snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...
player, who lives in the constituency and by 50 members of the local Labour Party. At the election, Iain Duncan Smith retained the seat with just over one third of the votes, while the Labour candidate and Shaheen each secured just over one quarter. Shaheen blamed the incumbent's victory on the Labour Party for deselecting her.


Personal life

Shaheen married actor Akin Gazi in 2013. They have one son, born in 2024. They live in
Woodford Green Woodford Green is an area of Woodford, London, Woodford in East London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Buckhurst Hill to the north, Woodford Bridge to the east, South Woodford to the south, and Chingford to the we ...
, Woodford, East London.


Publications

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Filmography

* ''
Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology series, anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Most episodes are set in near-future dystopias containing Science fiction, sci-fi technology—a type of speculative fiction. The series i ...
'' (2016), Series 3, Episode 6 * ''Capital in the 21st Century'' (2019)


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaheen, Faiza 1982 births Living people English people of Fijian descent English people of Indo-Fijian descent English people of Pakistani descent People from Chingford People educated at Sir George Monoux College Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Manchester Center on International Cooperation Academics of the London School of Economics British women economists 21st-century British economists Social justice scholars 21st-century English women writers 21st-century English non-fiction writers 21st-century British women politicians Politicians from the London Borough of Waltham Forest Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Independent British political candidates