Local MP Sadiq Khan, whose constituency includes Earlsfield and Wandsworth Common, will play a key role in Labour’s shadow cabinet. The former transport minister was also the key figure behind Ed Miliband’s leadership campaign.
The former Human Rights lawyer is the Member of Parliament for Tooting, where he has lived all his life.
In June 2009 Sadiq was appointed to the Privy Council and asked to attend Cabinet meetings. He was both the first Asian and the first Muslim to attend Cabinet.
Prior to becoming the MP for Tooting, Sadiq was a founding partner of one of the country's leading Human Rights firms. In his last year as a practicing solicitor he was listed as one of the country's leading lawyers in two separate categories of law in the Chambers and Partners directory 2004-05 (Human Rights and Police law).
In his new role as Lord Chancellor, Sadiq Khan will be responsible for the efficient functioning and independence of the courts.
Mr Khan was born in St George's Hospital in Tooting in 1970. His early years were spent in a council flat in the Henry Prince Estate in Earlsfield. He attended local primary schools and the local comprehensive, Ernest Bevin Secondary School before going to University to study Law. He completed the Law Society Finals at the College of Law in Guildford.
He was married in 1994 in Wandsworth. Sadiq's wife, also a solicitor, was born and raised in Tooting. They have 2 daughters aged ten and eight. Sadiq is an avid supporter of both Liverpool Football Club and Surrey County Cricket Club.
Other key shadow cabinet members include:
Shadow Chancellor - Alan Johnson
Shadow Foreign Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities - Yvette Cooper
Shadow Home Secretary - Ed Balls
Deputy Leader and Shadow International Development Secretary -Harriet Harman
Shadow Education Secretary - Andy Burnham
Shadow Health Secretary - John Healey
October 10th, 2010