Rushnara, Tulip, Rupa win UK polls

Rushnara Ali, Tulip Rizwana Siddiq and Rupa HuqBangladeshi-origin Labour Party candidates Rushnara Ali, Tulip Rizwana Siddiq and Rupa Huq have won their respective seats in the UK polls.

Rushnara Ali recorded a landslide victory in the Bethnal Green and Bow seat for the second consecutive time while Tulip Rizwana Siddiq won the Hampstead and Kilburn seat and Rupa Haq has won the Ealing Central and Acton Parliamentary seat.

Rushnara, the first Bangladeshi origin British MP, bagged 32387 votes while her nearest rival conservative party candidate Mathew Smith got 8070 votes, marking a 24000-vote victory for Rushnara.

The Sylhet-born politician served as the shadow minister for international development and education as well. She also completed her tenure as a member of the Parliamentary Treasury select committee recently.

Tulip, granddaughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and niece of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, received 23977 votes while her nearest rival conservative party candidate Simon Marcus received 22839 votes. She is a first-time contender.

Rupa Asha Huq, a senior lecturer in sociology at Kingston University, received 2202 votes while her competitor conservative party candidate Angie Bray received 21728 votes.

A total of 11 Bangladeshi-origin candidates have participated in the polls.

The vote casting started on 7 May. The final results are expected to be disclosed on Friday evening.

-Prothom Alo