Wikipedia

Rehman Chishti

Atta-Ur-Rehman Chishti[5] (born 4 October 1978)[6] is a Pakistani-born British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gillingham and Rainham since 2010.[6][7] He served under Theresa May as both the Vice Chair of the Conservative Party for Communities in 2018 and the Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to Pakistan from 2017 to 2018.[8] Between 2019 and 2020, he also served as Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for North America, Sanctions and Consular Policy from July to September 2022. He was one of 11 candidates in the July 2022 leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister.

Rehman Chishti
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for North America, Sanctions and Consular Policy
In office
8 July 2022 – 7 September 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byJames Cleverly
Succeeded byJesse Norman
Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief
In office
12 September 2019 – 14 September 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byLord Tariq Ahmad
Succeeded byFiona Bruce
Vice Chair of the Conservative Party for Communities
In office
8 January 2018 – 15 November 2018
LeaderTheresa May
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byHelen Grant
Member of Parliament
for Gillingham and Rainham
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byPaul Clark
Majority15,119 (32.9%)
Cabinet Member of Medway Council
for Community Safety and Enforcement[1]
In office
2007–2010
Member of Medway Council
for Rainham Central
In office
3 May 2007 – 2 May 2019[2]
Member of Medway Council
for Gillingham North
In office
1 May 2003 – 3 May 2007[2]
Personal details
Born (1978-10-04) 4 October 1978 (age 45)
Muzaffarabad, Pakistan
NationalityBritish
Political party
EducationAberystwyth University
AwardsSitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam (2020)[3]
WebsiteOfficial website
Military service
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch/service British Army
Years of service2020–2022
UnitArmy Reserve[4]

Early life and career edit

Chishti was born in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, on 4 October 1978. His father, Abdul Rehman Chishti, had been appointed as Federal Adviser on religious affairs to the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir in 1976 by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. His father left Pakistan in 1978 to take up a post as an Imam in the UK; soon after, Bhutto was overthrown by a military coup by General Zia-ul-Haq, who later executed Bhutto. Rehman Chishti did not see his father for the first six years of his life. He, along with his mother and elder sister joined his father in 1984 in the UK at the age of six arriving on a British Airways flight, and since then has lived in Gillingham and Rainham.[9]

Chishti attended Richmond Infant School (now Burnt Oak Primary school), Napier Primary School, Fort Luton High School for Boys (now Victory Academy), Rainham Mark Grammar School Sixth Form, and Chatham Grammar School for Girls (mixed boys and girls sixth form).[10] He played cricket for his school and for Medway District and Kent Schools.[11]

Chishti read law at University of Wales Aberystwyth,[12] followed by Inns of Court School of Law where he did his barrister's vocational course.

Chishti was called to the Bar of England and Wales by Lincoln's Inn in 2001. He undertook pupillage at Goldsmith Chambers and was taken on as a tenant. Chishti prosecuted and defended cases in the Magistrates' and Crown courts. He has appeared in the Court of Appeal: R v R [2007] EWCA Crim 3312; Attorney General's Reference (No. 20 of 2005), R v May [2005] All ER (D) 359 (Jun). He is an Honorary Door Tenant at Red Lion Chambers.[13][14]

Political career edit

Adviser to Benazir Bhutto edit

Chishti served as a political adviser from 1999–2007 to Benazir Bhutto, after she had ceased being the Prime Minister of Pakistan.[9] In September 2004 in a meeting in Islamabad with Mark Lyall Grant, the then High Commissioner to Pakistan, Chishti, acting on behalf of Benazir Bhutto, committed Bhutto to talks with the Government of Pakistan for the transition to democracy with the United Kingdom acting as the facilitators. Chishti followed this up by attending every meeting Bhutto had with British diplomats, both in Dubai and London, including the British Foreign Office in London accompanying Bhutto and acting on her behalf. This included meetings with the then British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in 2005, and David Miliband in 2007.

Parliamentary candidate and councillor edit

At the 2005 general election, Chishti stood as the Labour Party candidate for the Horsham constituency.[15] He later joined the Conservative Party, and was selected as the candidate for the marginal seat of Gillingham and Rainham, whose predecessor seat of Gillingham had been held by Labour by less than 300 votes in 2005.

Chishti was elected as a Labour member for Gillingham North ward on Medway Council in 2003. At the following council election in 2007, he was elected to represent Rainham Central ward as a Conservative. Having become the Conservative MP for the area in 2010, he was re-elected as a councillor for Rainham Central in 2011 and 2015. He stood down at the 2019 council election.[16][17][18][19][20][21] He was appointed to the Medway Council's Cabinet in 2007 as the Member for Community Safety and Enforcement, becoming the youngest Cabinet Member in Medway's history.[22] He also served as an Adviser to Francis Maude (against whom Chishti had stood in Horsham in 2005) on diversity when Maude was Chairman of the Conservative Party in 2006.[23]

Member of Parliament edit

Chishti was elected Member of Parliament for Gillingham and Rainham in 2010 at the age of 31. The New Statesman listed Chishti as among the 20 MPs under 40 who are the best of their generation, and who have the potential to be the next prime minister.[24] The Sunday Telegraph newspaper described him as a rising star of the party.[25] In 2011, Chishti was listed by the BBC as one of the most frequent speakers in Parliament from the intake of 2010.[26]

In 2013, Chishti was named parliamentarian of the year by the road safety charity Brake for his work in Parliament championing road safety issues,[27] including persuading the government to adopt his private members bill to increase the sentence for those who cause death by driving, when then the motorist had been banned from driving at the time of the offence. The government agreed to increase the maximum custodial sentence to 10 years from the previous two.[28]

Chishti has campaigned for the release of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five who has been accused of blasphemy in Pakistan. In October 2014, Chishti authored a letter, signed by 54 MPs from across Parliament, sent to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, and the Chief Justice, Nasir-ul-Mulk, calling for an urgent review of her case.[29]

In June 2015, Chishti authored letters signed by more than 120 MPs to the Prime Minister and to the BBC asking them to refer to the so-called "Islamic State", ISIS/ISIL as "Daesh", a phrase adopted by many countries around the world, including France and Turkey, an issue which made front-page news.[30][31] In December 2015, the Prime Minister announced in Parliament that, after the strong representations made by Chishti, the Government would be officially using the terminology Daesh, rather than ISIL.[32]

Chishti has campaigned to improve care for people with mental health problems and has introduced two Private Members Bills in Parliament. In October 2015 he authored a letter, signed by 67 MPs, sent to the Prime Minister asking the Government to support these.[33]

Chishti was a Member of the Justice Select Committee of the House of Commons, having previously been a Member of the Joint Committee of the Human Rights Committee.[34] He is passionate about sports and has served as the parliamentary fellow for Sport England,[35] and is currently[when?] the parliamentary fellow for The Football Association.[36]

In July 2014, Chishti was made Parliamentary Private Secretary to Nick Gibb, the Minister of State for Education. In May 2015, he took a similar position with Jeremy Wright, the Attorney General.

In 2015, Chishti was awarded the Conservative Party People's Choice MP of the Year Award from the Patchwork Foundation for his community engagement work and was named in second place by readers of the ConservativeHome blog in their Parliamentarian of the Year 2015.[37]

He led the campaign to give Asia Bibi asylum in the UK and in November 2018 authored a letter signed by 125 parliamentarians from across the house calling on the Government to offer her asylum. He resigned his position as a Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party citing the failure of the Government to offer Asia Bibi asylum as one of the reasons, as well as disagreement over the European Union Withdrawal Agreement.[38][39]

In March 2016, Chishti became an adviser to the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, a role for which he was paid £200 an hour.[40] The King Faisal Centre is a Saudi Arabian think-tank, named after the Saudi King Faisal. In recent years the organisation has aimed to have more of an international presence and to "affect policy based on public research".[41] The Liberal Democrats criticised him for advancing Saudi Arabia's interests through making speeches in Parliament while at the same time being on the pay-roll of a Saudi think-tank.[42]

PM's Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief edit

On 13 September 2019, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed Chishti the new Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief, as the single dedicated person leading on FoRB in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.[43] Chishti assumed the role in a time of renewed focus on international religious freedom, with the United States Government under the leader of US Vice President Michael Pence and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo initiating the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom.[44] Chishti was tasked with implementing the recommendations in the Bishop of Truro's Report on Persecuted Christians, as well as championing a firm stance on Freedom of Religion or Belief for all, which was a top priority for the Government, as made clear by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson in response to a question by Chishti during a Commons debate in October 2019.[45][46]

On 15 September 2020, Chishti resigned as special envoy on freedom of religion or belief in protest at the Internal Market Bill. In his resignation letter, Chishti said that his resignation was a matter of principle, regarding specifically his respect for the rule of law, hence why he could not agree to the initial drafting of the IMB, which would have enabled Ministers and Government unilaterally to withdraw from commitments with the European Union and breach international law. In the same letter, Chishti made clear his deeply held convictions of respect for the rule of law and honouring commitments, and that he had suggested to the government that they should accept an amendment by Conservative MP Bob Neill that would have enabled Parliamentary scrutiny and oversight, thereby respecting Parliamentary sovereignty before the UK Government ever considered departing from an agreement approved by Parliament. The Government had initially not accepted the amendment, but later did accept it along with Chishti's advice for a full debate on the matter, thereby ensuring Parliamentary sovereignty.[47]

Leadership bid edit

On 10 July 2022 Chishti announced his bid to succeed Boris Johnson in the Conservative Party leadership election.[48] He withdrew two days later, having failed to win the support of any other Conservative MPs,[49] before endorsing Tom Tugendhat[50] and subsequently Rishi Sunak.[51] He had been appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for North America, Sanctions and Consular Policy on 8 July 2022 by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but was sacked by Liz Truss when she succeeded him in September 2022.[52]

Brexit edit

For the 2016 referendum on Britain's membership to the European Union, Chisti voted to Leave, having made it clear he had taken that decision after listening to his constituents who voted almost 65% in favour of Leave.[53]

Chishti resigned his post as Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief on 14 September 2020 in opposition to the Government's suggestion that it could breach international law on the withdrawal agreement's protocol on Northern Ireland. He tweeted: "I've written to the PM resigning as PM's Special Envoy on FoRB. I can't support Internal Market Bill in its current form, which unilaterally break UK's legal commitments."[54][55]

Private Members Bills and Presentation Bills edit

Health Services Commissioning (Equality and Accountability) Bill – aimed to require health care commissioners to take full account of mental health needs when making decisions on care. This would require those who commission health services to always consider how their services meet the needs of people with mental health problems.[citation needed]

Drink Driving Bill – called for the Magistrates Court to be able to use their discretion to refer a third or subsequent offence for drink driving to the Crown Court for sentencing and to grant the Crown Court the jurisdiction to give a custodial sentence of up to two years. The road safety charity Brake presented Chishti with a national award for his Bill and campaigning on this issue.[56]

Laser Pens Bill – aimed to make the sale, ownership and use of certain portable laser devices unlawful in certain circumstances, and was also supported by the British Airline Pilots Association and a number of airports. Key aspects of Chishti's Bill were adopted by the Government in January 2018.[57][better source needed]

Cats Bill – Chishti presented his Cats Bill to Parliament in July 2018, launching a campaign calling for the compulsory microchipping and reporting of injured cats following a road accident. His Bill has the support of a wide range of animal charities including Cats Protection, Cats Matter, the Battersea Dog and Cat Home, and Animals Lost and Found in Kent. In December 2018, Chishti held a debate in Westminster Hall on Cat Welfare which was supported by MPs from across the House.[58][59][needs update]

Personal life edit

Chishti is a practising Muslim and the son of an Imam. He took his first oath of allegiance on a Quran with the Torah and the King James Bible placed on the Despatch Box to show reverence to other faiths.[60]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "About Rehman". Rehman Chishti MP. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Rehman Chishti". Medway Elects. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Rehman Chishti receives Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam". www.thenews.com.pk. The News International. 10 October 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  4. ^ "House of Commons - The Register of Members' Financial Interests (9 January 2023: Chishti, Rehman)". Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  5. ^ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9123.
  6. ^ a b "Rehman Chishti MP". Democracy Live. BBC News. 5 June 2010. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  7. ^ "Rehman Chishti – MP for Gillingham and Rainham". Rehman Chishti. Archived from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  8. ^ Rehman Chishti. "Rehman Chishti on Twitter: "Honoured and delighted to be appointed by the PM as Vice Chair". Twitter.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  9. ^ a b Macrory, Sam (11 October 2010). "The rebirth of Rehman". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014.
  10. ^ "About Rehman". Rehman Chishti. Archived from the original on 27 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  11. ^ Chishti, Rehman (7 March 2012). "How the Olympics legacy could help to tackle obesity and boost health". Conservative Home. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  12. ^ "Aberystwyth at Westminster". Aberystwyth University. 19 May 2010. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  13. ^ "Honorary Door Tenants". 18 Red Lion Court. Red Lion Chambers. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  14. ^ "Rehman Chishti MP". 18 Red Lion Court. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  15. ^ "Election 2005 Result: Horsham". BBC News. 6 May 2005. Archived from the original on 21 February 2006. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  16. ^ "#MedwayElects19". www.medwayelects.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  17. ^ Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2015 - Medway". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  18. ^ Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2003 - Medway". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  19. ^ Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2007 - Medway". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  20. ^ Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2011 - Medway". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  21. ^ "Councillor Rehman Chishti". Medway Council. 14 September 2019. Archived from the original on 6 July 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  22. ^ "Cllr Chishti goes walkabout in Chatham: Media invite". Medway Council. 22 May 2007. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  23. ^ "Ex-Labour man defects to Tories". BBC News. 15 March 2006. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  24. ^ "20 under 40: meet parliament's rising stars". New Statesman. 23 September 2011. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  25. ^ Bingham, John (16 December 2012). "MPs and Peers launch gay marriage rebellion saying Cameron has 'no mandate'". The Sunday Telegraph. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  26. ^ Stamp, Gavin (11 July 2011). "MPs' Class of 2010: End of term report". BBC News. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  27. ^ "Local MP wins prestigious award for outstanding contribution to road safety". Brake. 15 January 2014. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  28. ^ "Justice for victims of banned drivers". Ministry of Justice. 6 May 2014. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  29. ^ Westminster, Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 09 July 2015 (pt 0001)". www.publications.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ Jones, Callum; Pitel, Laura (2 July 2015). "BBC: we must be fair with Islamic State". The Times. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  31. ^ Harley, Nicola (2 July 2015). "BBC decides dropping 'Islamic State' would be unfair to terror group". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  32. ^ Westminster, Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 02 Dec 2015 (pt 0001)". www.publications.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ "67 MPs sign letter supporting Mental Health Bills". Rehman Chishti MP. 4 November 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  34. ^ "Rehman Chishti MP". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  35. ^ "England's MPs discover about the Olympic and Paralympic legacy in their area". Sport England. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014.
  36. ^ "The FA welcomes Rehman Chishti MP to its fellowship scheme". Rehman Chishti. 12 August 2013. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  37. ^ "David Davis is ConHome readers' Parliamentarian of the Year - Conservative Home". 31 December 2015. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  38. ^ "Asia Bibi: British imams join calls for UK to give asylum". 13 November 2018. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  39. ^ "Brexit: Dominic Raab and Esther McVey among ministers to quit over EU agreement". BBC News. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  40. ^ "REGISTER OF MEMBERS' FINANCIAL INTERESTS as at 23 January 2017" (PDF). UK Parliament. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2017.
  41. ^ "Saudi Arabia's former spymaster aims to give centre influence - The National". 16 May 2015. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  42. ^ "Tory MP faces investigation over links with Saudi think-tank". The Independent. 9 June 2016. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  43. ^ HM Government. "HM Government announcement: "UK appoints new Prime Minister's Envoy for Religious Freedom or Belief"". www.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 28 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  44. ^ "2019 Ministerial To Advance Religious Freedom". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  45. ^ "Persecution of Christians review: Foreign Secretary's speech following the final report". GOV.UK. 8 July 2019. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  46. ^ "Parliamentary Debate on the Queen's Speech". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  47. ^ "Prime Minister's Freedom of Religion Envoy Resigns". Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  48. ^ "UK MP Rehman Chishti to run for next UK PM". Reuters. 10 July 2022. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  49. ^ Wingate, Sophie (12 July 2022). "Rehman Chishti's unlikely Tory leadership bid ends with zero backers". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  50. ^ "Chishti backs Tugendhat for Tory leader". Sky News. 13 July 2022. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  51. ^ Penna, Dominic (19 July 2022). "Rehman Chishti is now backing Rishi Sunak to be Britain's next PM". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  52. ^ "Parliamentary career for Rehman Chishti - MPS and Lords - UK Parliament". Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  53. ^ "Rehman's decision on EU Referendum". rehmanchishti.com. 25 May 2016. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017.
  54. ^ "Brexit: Prime Minister Boris Johnson wins vote despite Tory rebel threats". Sky News. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  55. ^ "Tory MP quits government over plan to break international law". The Independent. 14 September 2020. Archived from the original on 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  56. ^ "Rehman Chishti, MP for Gillingham and Rainham - Brake the road safety charity". Brake.org.uk. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  57. ^ Hall, Macer (8 January 2018). "Ministers announce new rules to stamp out 'menace' of dangerous laser pens". Daily Express. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  58. ^ "House of Commons Votes and Proceedings". United Kingdom Parliament. 23 July 2018 [Corrected 2 August 2018].
  59. ^ "Cat Welfare: 11 Dec 2018: Westminster Hall debates". TheyWorkForYou. 11 December 2018. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019.
  60. ^ Chishti, Rehman (2021). "Islam". UK Parliament.

External links edit

 
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Preceded by Member of Parliament for Gillingham and Rainham
2010–present 		Incumbent
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