LORD TARIQ AHMAD, a minister of state at the foreign office, is a familiar and popular figure at Indian functions. At India’s Republic Day reception at the Guildhall in February, for example, he represented the UK government. He was a guest at the Hinduja mansion in Carlton House Terrace in October last year when Britain’s premier business family held their Diwali party. And in July 2022 when the Hindujas launched Ajit Rai’s book, Hindujas and Bollywood, at the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall in the presence of the Indian elite and the Hindi film star, Akshay Kumar, Ahmad good naturedly volunteered to act as a sort of minister for Bollywood.
Ahmad was born in Lambeth in south London on 3 April 1968 to parents who came from Pakistan but like many other Asians, their roots went back to pre-partition India.
In his speech at the Guildhall he referred, as he often does, to his family origins.
He said: “Now prime Minister (Narendra) Modi has rightly made a priority of ‘Made in India’. Now, as a born and bred Brit, I’m very much ‘made in Britain’ and proud of that. However, I’m also at this moment in time reflecting on the fact that as far as my heritage is concerned, my mother was a daughter of the soil of Jodhpur (in Rajasthan), my father was from Gurdaspur (in Punjab), so I suppose there’s a bit of ‘made an India’ in me as well.”
He was playing to the crowd, to be sure, but his well received words recalled Alisha Chinai’s catchy number, Made in India.
In fact, Ahmad has shown great skill at remaining at the foreign office since 2017. His current title is the Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and United Nations at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). He’s also the Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict.
Under the leadership of the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, Ahmad is responsible for a number of countries, including India and Pakistan, plus Iran and Afghanistan.
The young Tariq was educated at Rutlish School, Merton Park, southwest London. He joined the Conservative Party in 1994. In 2002, he was elected a councillor in Wimbledon. He unsuccessfully contested Croydon North for the Conservatives in 2005. From 2008 to 2010, he served as vice-chairman of the Conservative Party.
He had a 20-year career in the City working in banking and finance, including at the NatWest Group where he was a senior manager in corporate banking and financial markets. He was later vice president and marketing director of Alliance Bernstein and his last role before joining the government was as strategy and marketing director at Sucden Financial. He is married and has a daughter and two sons. In 2011, he was made a life peer and created Baron Ahmad of Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton.
His rise up the greasy pole of politics has been steady: Government Whip and Lord in Waiting (2012 to 2014); Communities & Local Government Minister (2014 to 2015); Transport Minister, Skills & Aviation Security (2015 to 2016); Minister for Countering Extremism, Home Office (2015 to 2016); Minister for Aviation and Trade, Department for Transport (2016 to 2017); and Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief (2018 to 2019).
The last appointment had personal significance.
He is a part of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and was once a national vice-president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association’s youth organisation from 2003. The community was subjected to persecution in Pakistan where they are not recognised as Muslims. Their headquarters were shifted to London in 1985. Under president Zia-ul-Haq, an anti-Ahmadiyya ordinance was made in the Constitution of Pakistan which restricted the freedom of religion for Ahmadis. According to this law, Ahmadis cannot call themselves Muslim or “pose as Muslims”, an “offence” punishable by three years in prison.
It is at the foreign office that he seems to have found his calling, especially with his relaxed style of dealing with foreign diplomats and governments. He has always believed in social cohesion.
When the Hindujas launched their Bollywood book, Ahmad said: “I remember many a visit with my late mother, sitting on a bus going up to Clapham Junction to the Cinema Grand. Along with our Auntie Sunita up the road, she used to go every other Sunday to see their matinee of the Indian film that would be showing. Life went forward and VCRs and VHSs came about. But there was one thing Bollywood did more than anything else for the community here in the United Kingdom. It was a home away from home. It brought people together, it did not matter what your background, religion or community was. I think it was Amitabh Bachchan who famously said, ‘What the movie theatre does when you sit down, it doesn’t matter whether you’re Christian, Muslim, or Hindu, you’re together as one.’ And that’s the uniqueness of film.”
During the Tory leadership contest last year, he did back Liz Truss over Sunak.
In August, he said that “she’s committed to allowing us to keep more of our hard-earned income through tax cuts”, adding, “I believe she has what it takes to be the next prime minister of our United Kingdom.”
But in October, he was tweeting, “Congratulations to @RishiSunak. What’s important now is that we as a party unite behind our new leader & PM.”
It is lucky for him that Sunak kept him on at the foreign office.
At the Hinduja Diwali party last year, Ahmad began by remarking: “I was with the Prime Minister, a few hours ago when he hosted his first event. And his first event was the Diwali function, where he lit a diya, a lantern, which shows how light conquers darkness, how love conquers hate.”
He commented: “One thing us Asians do very well, is we do family very well.”
Looking at the guests, he added: “So, you have Labour, Conservatives, and Lib Dems, joining together on Diwali at the Hinduja residence. That’s a great thing for our country, as well.”
He went on: “That’s what the Hinduja family actually do. They bring people together, they bring the joy of community, which we celebrate here on Diwali. But what Rishi also said was that his journey was not unique in this country. His journey, he said, was your journey. And I repeat the words of the Prime Minister. Irrespective of who you are, that moment when Rishi did become prime minister, there was a moment of reflection for many of us, those who had made the United Kingdom their home. In his case, his maternal grandmother, in my case, my parents who came here with very little. But it’s an incredible tribute to our country.”
