UK's first Muslim cabinet minister Baroness Warsi quits Conservatives over 'shift to the right'

Party is 'hypocritical' and 'far removed' from the one she served in cabinet, says peer

Baroness Warsi has resigned as the Conservative Party’s whip in the House of Lords, claiming the party is 'hypocritical'. Reuters

Baroness Warsi, Britain’s first Muslim cabinet minister, has resigned from the Conservative Party in the House of Lords, claiming the party is “hypocritical” and has moved too far to the right.

The former party co-chairwoman said while she remains a Conservative, the current party is “far removed” from the one in which she served in cabinet under David Cameron.

She said she was prompted to resign over comments from some Conservative Party members over the acquittal of Marieha Hussain, who was photographed holding a placard with Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman surrounded by coconuts during a pro-Palestinian protest in November. Ms Hussain was found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence on September 13.

Baroness Warsi claimed a party investigation subsequently launched over her alleged “divisive language” was because of her support for Ms Hussain. “It is with a heavy heart that I have today informed my whip and decided for now to no longer take the Conservative whip,” she wrote in a post on X.

“This is a sad day for me. I am a Conservative and remain so but sadly the current party are far removed from the party I joined and served in cabinet. My decision is a reflection of how far right my party has moved and the hypocrisy and double standards in its treatment of different communities. A timely reminder of the issues that I raise in my book Muslims Don’t Matter.”

First Muslim cabinet member

A successful lawyer, Baroness Warsi was born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, in 1971 and was the first Asian woman to be selected by the Tories to fight a parliamentary seat. She came within 4,615 votes of unseating Labour’s Shahid Malik as MP for her hometown in 2005.

Two years later she entered the House of Lords as a Tory life peer instead, having worked as an adviser to both Mr Cameron and his predecessor, Michael Howard. In 2010, she became Britain’s first female Muslim cabinet minister, ditching the pinstriped traditions of her predecessors as Tory Party chairman as she posed outside Downing Street in traditional Islamic garments after the coalition cabinet’s first meeting.

She then told reporters: “To be born as the daughter of an immigrant mill worker in a mill town in Yorkshire, to have the privilege of serving in cabinet at such an important time in Britain’s history, I think it is terribly humbling.”

Baroness Warsi served in government as a minister without portfolio from 2010 until 2012 and later became a foreign minister and held a faith and communities brief until 2014. She resigned from the government in disagreement with the party’s policy on the Israel-Gaza war in August that year.

She became a critic of the Conservatives while representing the party in the Lords. She told current Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick to “reflect on your language” after his comments during the riots in August. Commenting on a social media video in which Mr Jenrick spoke of “sectarian gangs” in some cases “attacking white Britons”, she said: “Use this awful moment to reflect on your language and conduct and what impact it’s had on where the country finds itself.”

'Will not be gagged'

Baroness Warsi has said she will “not be gagged on a point of principle” and she is not “prepared to play games behind closed doors” over the internal investigation.

“If Rishi Sunak’s party wants to retry and replay the ‘coconut trial’ despite the acquittal of Marieha Hussain, the clear legal findings and the overwhelming expert witness testimonies, then I wish to do so publicly and transparently,” she said.

People attend a demonstration in London in support of Palestinians in Gaza. Reuters

To do this while continuing to take the Conservative whip would be “unfair”, she said, adding: “I realise I have the privilege of platform and I have decided to exercise that privilege by speaking truth to power.

“A court of law found Marieha Hussain not guilty. Whatever Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman think of that decision, that is the rule of law and they are not above the law. I applaud the court’s decision and judgment of judge Vanessa Lloyd, the overwhelming evidence of multiple academics and other expert witnesses,” she added. “I was subsequently asked to delete my public support for Marieha – I refused to do so.”

This refusal was the basis of the complaint, Baroness Warsi said. The case was due to be conducted in private behind closed doors. She said she was not told who the complainant was in the party. “I was also told I could not discuss the matter with others. It was effectively to be a secret retrial of the ‘Coconut Trial’, I was not prepared to accept this,” she said. “I felt it appropriate in the circumstances to resign my whip and look forward to dealing with these issues openly and transparently in the coming weeks and months.”

A Conservative Party spokesperson said complaints were received “regarding divisive language” by the peer. “Baroness Warsi was informed an investigation was about to begin earlier this week. We have a responsibility to ensure that all complaints are investigated without prejudice,” added the representative. Shadow housing secretary Kemi Badenoch told The Sun that complaints had been made to party officials about the peer.