UK
Who is Tulip Siddiq? The outgoing Labour minister with ties to Bangladesh who campaigned to free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
Anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq has resigned after controversy over links to her aunt’s ousted political movement in Bangladesh.
The Hampstead and Highgate MP is probably best known for campaigning for the release of her constituent, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was detained in Iran for six years.
Politics latest: Embattled City minister leaves government
The mother-of-two also hit the headlines in 2019 when she delayed having a C-section so she could vote against Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, turning up to parliament heavily pregnant and in a wheelchair.
After giving birth she went on to make history by becoming the first MP to vote by proxy.
Ms Siddiq was first elected to parliament in 2015, in what was then the most marginal seat in the country, and before that served as a local councillor in Camden.
The 42-year-old is a niece of Bangladesh’s longest-serving prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August following an uprising against her 20-year leadership.
In blog posts written in late 2008 and early 2009, when she was a Labour activist, Ms Siddiq described campaigning with her aunt in the south Asian country’s general election and celebrating her victory.
Tulip Siddiq (far left) with her aunt, Sheikh Hasina (third left), and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a 2013 signing ceremony in the Kremlin. Pic: AP
Ms Siddiq’s maternal grandfather was Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s first president, who was assassinated along with most of his family in a military coup in 1975.
Her mother and aunt survived because they were abroad at the time – her mother going on to claim political asylum in the UK, where the Labour MP was born.
Ms Siddiq lived in south London until she was five then spent 10 years living in different parts of Asia, including India and Bangladesh.
She returned to the UK capital as a teenager, where she has lived ever since.
Tulip Siddiq campaigned to help free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Pic: PA
Ms Siddiq has previously described having an “unusual childhood”, when she met the likes of Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela.
She said she joined the Labour Party because of the NHS, but living in places like Bangladesh made it “hard not to be political because politics plays an everyday part in your life”.
However, it is her links to the country’s political dynasty that have brought her down.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Ms Siddiq has been under pressure since December, when she was named in court documents which detailed claims her family embezzled billions of pounds from a nuclear power project in Bangladesh.
She is alleged to have helped coordinate meetings with the Russian government regarding the Rooppur nuclear infrastructure scheme in 2013.
She has also come under scrutiny over reports she lived in properties in London linked to allies of her aunt.
The Conservatives had called for Ms Siddiq to be sacked, while Bangladeshi leader Muhammad Yunus said London properties used by the MP should be investigated and handed back to his government if they were acquired through “plain robbery”.
Ms Siddiq insists she has “done nothing wrong”, but last week referred herself to the prime minister’s ethics watchdog.
At the time, Sir Keir Starmer said she had “acted entirely properly” in referring herself to Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent ethics adviser, and said he had “full confidence” in her.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Tulip Siddiq is asked if she will step down
Ms Siddiq returns to the backbenches just six months after getting a job in government.
She was appointed the economic secretary to the Treasury after Labour’s election victory in July.
As the city minister – or anti-corruption minister as the role is often called – she held responsibility for financial crime and illicit finance.
Before the general election, she held shadow positions for the Treasury and education departments under Sir Keir Starmer.
She was also part of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet between 2016-17 but resigned over his order not to “block” the bill to trigger Article 50 and start Britain’s exit from the EU.