By IRNA,
London : Shabana Mahmood and Yasmin Qureshi have become the first Muslim women to be elected to the British parliament after successfully defending Labour seats.
Mahmood successfully increased the majority of former International Development Secretary Clare Short, who has retired from parliament, from under 7,000 votes to more than 10,000 in Birmingham Ladywood in central England.
The Oxford University-educated barrister saw off challenges from two other Muslim candidate, Ayoub Khan representing the Liberal Democrats and Nusrat Ghani, who was standing for the Tories.
The announcement of her success came as Qureshi, who is also a lawyer, won by a reduced majority of more than 8,600 in the Bolton South East constituency in north-west England.
At least 16 Muslim female candidates were standing at the elections, including Maryam Khan, who is also trying to defend a Labour seat in Bury North in north-west England.
Child poverty commissioner Rushnara Ali is also trying to recapture Britain’s most populous Muslim seat of Bethnal Green and Bow in east London for Labour, after it was won at the last election in 2005 by former Respect leader George Galloway on an anti-war platform.
Respect Party leader Salma Yaqoob is seen as having an outside chance of capturing Birmingham Hall Green, which has boundary changes with the adjacent Sparkbrook and Small Heath, where she came second at the last elections with 27.5% of the vote.