ANKARA
Muslim representation in the U.K. parliament rose from eight to 13 lawmakers after last week’s general election, the highest number ever to sit in the House of Commons.
Six new Muslim MPs were appointed to parliament while seven existing members were re-elected. One Labour MP, Anas Sarwar, lost his Glasgow Central seat to the Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate.
Muslims now form 2 percent of the membership of the elected lower house, compared to 4.8 percent of the total population of England and Wales, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Ahmed Versi, editor of Muslim News website, welcomed the increase. "It is great news that there are more Muslim MPs elected than ever before,” he said in a statement. “However, the House of Commons still does not reflect the diversity of the population."
Eight women are among the Muslim lawmakers.
The new members are Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (SNP); Rupa Huq (Labour); Tulip Siddiq (Labour); Nusrat Ghani (Conservative); Naz Shah (Labour); Imran Hussain (Labour).
Those re-elected are Khalid Mahmood (Labour); Shabana Mahmood (Labour); Rushanara Ali (Labour); Yasmin Qureshi (Labour); Sadiq Khan (Labour); Sajid Javid (Conservative); Rehman Chishti (Conservative).
