Bethnal Green and Bow MP Rushanara Ali has replaced Tristram Hunt as the FE and skills Labour Shadow Education Minister.
Ms Ali had previously been on the Labour team for international development since 2011.
Following the announcement of her promotion, Ms Ali took to Twitter to say working on the international development brief had been a “pleasure and a privilege”, but she was “delighted to be joining the shadow education team”.
Ms Ali’s family emigrated from Bangladesh when she was seven years old and she grew up in Tower Hamlets, in London’s East End, and attended Tower Hamlets College.
She credited much of her success to her time at college, saying her achievements were “the achievements of teachers and youth workers at Mulberry School and Tower Hamlets College.
“It was their support and belief that led me to a place at Oxford University and jobs in Parliament.”
The 38-year-old was the first person of Bangladeshi origin to have been elected to the House of Commons when she won the Bethnal Green and Bow seat from Respect MP George Galloway in the 2010 general election.
Along with Shabana Mahmood and Yasmin Qureshi, she was also one of the UK’s first female Muslim MPs.
She has previously worked as a research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research and on human rights issues at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office during Tony Blair’s government.
Mr Hunt has taken over the role as Shadow Secretary of State from Stephen Twigg MP, who has returned to the Labour back benches.
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