Nusrat Ghani, MP

In July 2024, Nusrat Ghani was elected as Chairman of Ways and Means, Principal Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons. Nusrat is the first of colour and the second female to secure the confidence of MPs to preside as Madam Deputy Speaker.

Nusrat Ghani is the Conservative MP for Sussex Weald, first elected in 2015, becoming the first female MP to hold the seat, which was then the Wealden constituency, prior to the boundary changes.

Previously, Nusrat served as Minister of State for Europe at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, with responsibilities including Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, UK-EU relationship, national security, and critical minerals. Before this, Nusrat served as Minister for Industry and Economic Security at the Department of Business & Trade and Minister of State for the Investment Security Unit at the Cabinet Office, with a portfolio scoping from the National Security and Investment, Ukraine reconstruction, supply chains and critical minerals, to advanced manufacturing including automotive, aerospace and maritime.

Prior to this, Nusrat has also served as the Minister of State for Industry and Investment Security at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and also served as Minister for Transport in 2018, making British history as the first Muslim female Minister to speak from the Dispatch Box in Parliament. Her portfolio included Maritime, HS2, Buses, Taxis, Accessibility and Year of Engineering.

Nusrat is the only female Member of Parliament to be sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party, and she has also been sanctioned by Russia for her tough stance on the invasion of Ukraine, which makes her the only woman in Parliament to be sanctioned by two countries.