In 1990 Ahmed began his political career as a local Labour Party councillor, becoming the chair of the South Yorkshire Labour Party in 1993 and holding both positions until 2000. He founded the British Muslim Councillors' Forum and was a magistrate between 1992 and 2000. He was the first Asian councillor in Rotherham and the town's youngest magistrate. He enjoyed backing from the Pakistan government, and was known for lobbying in the British Parliament on the Kashmir issue on Pakistan's behalf. This advocacy included holding anti-India protests outside the Indian Embassy in London. He claims to have changed the policies of the Labour Party to the extent that, for the first time in British history, Kashmir was discussed on the floor of the conference. He is associated with the Justice Foundation, which organised that conference and whose director at that time was Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai - a Pakistani Kashmir lobbyist arrested by the USA for spying and illegal lobbying, and according to US prosecutors the Justice Foundation's Kashmir Centres in UK, USA and Saudi Arabia are run on behalf of the Pakistani government and its military intelligence Inter-Services Intelligence Agency.
Ahmed was created a life peer, Baron Ahmed, of Rotherham in the County of South Yorkshire, on the 3rd of August 1998. Although there have been many claims that he was the first Muslim life peer, including by Ahmed himself, or the first male Muslim peer, he was in fact the third Muslim life peer. The other two, Baroness Uddin and Lord Alli, were raised to the Peerage on the 18th of July of that year, whereas Ahmed was so raised on the 3rd of August. There have been earlier Muslim hereditary peers, the first being the 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley in 1869.
Ahmed led the first delegation on behalf of the British Government on the Muslim pilgrimage of the Hajj. At home, he spoke on wider equality issues, and spoke several times on issues of race, religion and gender. He advocated legislation against religious discrimination and forced marriage.
In December 2001, Ahmed claimed that his phone had been tapped by the government because of his opposition to its intervention in Afghanistan. He claimed he had a heated conversation with Foreign Office minister Denis MacShane, during which MacShane claimed to have transcripts of Ahmed's private conversations. The government denied that Ahmed was under surveillance, and MacShane said that his remarks had been misinterpreted.
Ahmed tried to calm tensions following the aftermath of the September the 11th attacks in 2001. However, on 23 February 2005, he hosted a book launch in the House of Lords for the controversial Swedish writer Israel Shamir, during which the author claimed, among other things "The Jews like an Empire.... This love of Empire explains the easiness Jews change their allegiance.... Simple minds call it 'treacherous behaviour', but it is actually love of Empire per se." Shamir also claimed "Jews... own, control and edit a big share of mass media" a statement that was to be echoed by Lord Ahmed in 2012. Although this invitation raised some controversy, Ahmed firmly refused to discuss the matter.
On 25 July 2005, Ahmed, while interviewing with Robert Siegel on National Public Radio, said that the suicide bombers of 7/7 had an "identity crisis" and that "unfortunately, our imams and mosques have not been able to communicate the true message of Islam in the language that these young people can understand." Christopher Orlet of The American Spectator did not agree with Ahmed's "identity crisis". He said, "That's not an identity crisis, Lord Ahmed, that's religious psychopathy. That's a bloodthirstiness that makes Dracula look like a teetotaller." Ahmed did acknowledge "the community leaders and religious leaders, who have kept very close contacts with South Asia and the Middle East rather than keeping a good contact with the British society where we live."
Outcome:
In August 2006 Ahmed was a signatory to an open letter addressed to then Prime Minister Tony Blair criticising the UK's foreign policy.
On 30 November 2006, the New Statesman reported a claim by fellow Muslim and Labour parliamentarian Shahid Malik that Ahmed had campaigned against him during the Dewsbury election in 2005. He alleged that Ahmed instead backed Sayeeda Warsi, vice-chair of the Conservative Party, the daughter of a personal friend. According to the New Statesman's report, Warsi "welcomed Lord Ahmed's support". The New Statesman also printed Ahmed's denial, saying "I never told any constituent of Dewsbury to vote for the Tories".
On 19 June 2007 Ahmed criticised the honouring of Salman Rushdie with a knighthood because of what he saw as Rushdie's offensiveness to Islam. He was reported to have said "It's hypocrisy by Tony Blair, who two weeks ago was talking about building bridges to mainstream Muslims, and then he's honouring a man who has insulted the British public [???] and been divisive in community relations." Adding "This man not only provoked violence around the world because of his writings, but there were many people who were killed around the world. Forgiving and forgetting is one thing, but honouring the man who has blood on his hands, sort of, because of what he did, I think is going a bit too far." He also said on BBC Radio 4's PM programme that he had been appalled by the award to a man he accused of having 'blood on his hands'.
In September 2007, Ahmed flew to Islamabad with Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, in a bid to end Sharif's exile from the country by military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who had ousted him in a coup d'etat. He negotiated with police to allow Sharif to enter the airport terminal and pass through customs, but Sharif was arrested later, and deported.
In November 2007 Ahmed was involved in a diplomatic effort to secure the release of Gillian Gibbons from custody in Sudan. The teacher, Gillian Gibbons, allowed her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad. Ahmed, from Britain's ruling Labour Party, and Baroness Warsi, an opposition Conservative, visited Khartoum and had a meeting with the President of Sudan. Miss Gibbons, who had been given a fifteen-day prison sentence, was released after eight days following a Presidential pardon and allowed to return to the UK.
On the 25th of December 2007, Ahmed was involved in a crash on the M1 motorway near Rotherham in which Martin Gombar, 28, was killed. Gombar's car had been involved in a crash and he had left it in the outer lane. Apparently trying to return to his vehicle from the hard shoulder he was hit by Ahmed, who was driving his Jaguar X-Type. Ahmed's wife and mother, who were passengers in the car, also received minor injuries.
The prominent Labour peer Lord Ahmed of Rotherham was jailed for 12 weeks today after admitting sending texts while driving shortly before his Jaguar ploughed into a stationary car on the M1, killing its driver. He was sent straight to the cells from Sheffield crown court after a judge described his texting as "prolonged, deliberate, repeated and highly dangerous" even though it was not directly linked to the accident.
Ahmed, 51, will serve half the sentence behind bars and the rest on licence. His solicitor said he would appeal against the sentence, claiming the peer was being made a "scapegoat" because of his profile. Ahmed was left shaken by the tragedy, saying that the death of the other driver remained "at the forefront of my mind".
The court heard that Ahmed, a property developer and JP, sent and received five texts as he drove his Wife and elderly Mother down the M1 from Dewsbury to their home in Rotherham in the early evening of Christmas Day 2007. The judge said the exchanges with a journalist "amounted to a conversation" that took place as the peer travelled at an average of 60mph along nearly 18 miles of the motorway.
The last message was sent two minutes and 1.86 miles before the Jaguar smashed into an Audi that had clipped the central barrier shortly beforehand and ended up facing the wrong way in the outside lane. Its driver, Martyn Gombar, 28, a Slovakian father of two living in Manchester, who had been drinking, was trying to retrieve his own mobile phone at the time of the collision.
Ahmed, who suffered facial cuts and shock, admitted dangerous driving at Sheffield Magistrates Court in December. The case was sent to the crown court for sentencing because the JPs decided their own powers were inadequate in the circumstances.
Mr Justice Wilkie told Ahmed "Only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified. It is of the greatest importance that people realise what a serious offence dangerous driving of this type is." He imposed a 12-month driving ban and £500 prosecution costs on the peer, who had not been allowed to drive since the accident.
After the hearing, Martin Gombar's cousin, David Cicak, said the family had hoped for a longer prison term. He said "He could be out in six weeks, that's nothing. Martyn left behind two small kids with only their Mother."
Chief Inspector Andy Male, head of the South Yorkshire police road team, said the peer's sentence "Reflects the seriousness with which the courts, the Crown Prosecution Service and the police view this offence".
Ahmed's solicitor, Steve Smith, said the peer was "very philosophical and approaching it with great dignity", but the lawyer said he himself was "extremely disappointed with the sentence ... he's been used as a scapegoat".
In mitigation, Ahmed's barrister, Jeremy Baker QC, said the peer had given years of service to the community and played a significant role in interfaith relations and Britain's overseas affairs.
On 3 February 2009, Melanie Phillips, a newspaper columnist, claimed that Ahmed had threatened to mobilise 10,000 Muslims to prevent anti-Islamist Dutch MP Geert Wilders from entering the House of Lords to speak at a screening of the film Fitna. Wilders had been invited by a peer to debate issues of social inclusion. This claim was later denied by Ahmed, but the House of Lords authorities had determined to provide adequate security, if necessary. In the event, the film Fitna was broadcast as planned, but Wilders was denied entry to the UK, thus leading many commentators to deplore the action by the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith as appeasement.
On 12 March 2009 Ahmed's sentence was varied by the Court of Appeal. Lady Justice Hallett said it was important to state that Ahmed's offence was one of dangerous driving, not of causing death by dangerous driving. Hallett said that there was "little or nothing" Ahmed could have done to avoid the collision and that after being knocked unconscious, he had come to and "risked his life trying to flag down other vehicles to stop them colliding with the Audi or his car". She said that while his prison sentence had been justified, the court had been persuaded it could now take an "exceptional" course and suspend the sentence for 12 months. He was released (subject to the suspended sentence) 16 days into his original sentence.
Outcome:
In subsequent interviews, Ahmed incorrectly stated that he had no criminal record and that his sentence was overturned.
A Pakistani newspaper, The Express Tribune, erroneously alleged that Ahmed said "If the US can announce a reward of $10 million for the capture of Hafiz Saeed, I can announce a bounty of £10 million on President Obama and his predecessor George Bush", at a business meeting in Haripur, Pakistan, on 15 April 2012. On learning of these allegations, the Labour Party immediately suspended Ahmed pending a formal investigation. He later responded by stating "I'm shocked and horrified that this whole story could be just made up of lies...." Ahmed went on to say that he was not issuing a bounty but rather calls for the prosecution of George W. Bush and Tony Blair due to the "war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan" in what he considers to be "illegal wars".
Video footage of the meeting, released on 18th of April, showed that Ahmed had been misquoted and instead had said "Even if I have to beg I am willing to raise and offer £10 million so that George W Bush and Tony Blair can be brought to the International Court of Justice on war crimes charges." The same day, The Express Tribune offered a "clarification" that it had "erroneously reported" Ahmed's statement and that their reporter had incorrectly cited the name of Obama. The article stated that the newspaper "deeply regretted" its mistake. His suspension was revoked on 25 June 2012.
In November 2012 Ahmed claimed that the attempted assassination of Malala Yousafzai by the Pakistani Taliban (not the main Afghan Taliban), might have been carried out by unnamed official elements in Pakistan as part of an effort to discredit the Pakistani Taliban. He subsequently accepted that he gave the speech whilst having "no idea what happened" and that this was not the case.
On 14 March 2013, The Times newspaper in London revealed that Ahmed had blamed a Jewish conspiracy for his driving conviction. In an interview given in Urdu, broadcast on a Pakistani television channel in April 2012, the peer claimed that he was jailed because of pressure on the courts by Jewish owned media "My case became more critical because I went to Gaza to support Palestinians. My Jewish friends who own newspapers and TV channels opposed this." He also alluded to further Jewish involvement regarding the judge, claiming that Mr Justice Wilkie was specifically selected to judge his case having previously been appointed to the high court after helping a "Jewish colleague" of former Labour prime minister Tony Blair during an important case. The Times pointed out that neither of these claims about the judge were factually correct.
Reactions were negative. Katie Wheatley, a criminal law expert, said that if Ahmed had made such claims in Britain he could have faced prosecution for a hate crime. The Labour party immediately suspended him, saying it "deplores and does not tolerate any sort of racism or anti-Semitism." Jewish organisations condemned the comments, with the Board of Deputies of British Jews saying "We are appalled by Lord Ahmed's alleged comments which recall the worst Jewish conspiracy theories." In contrast, the chairman of the UK-based Kashmir Watch International was reported by The Nation, an English-language Pakistani paper, as saying, "Lord Ahmed has, in fact, been made the target of a deep-rooted vendetta by the rivals - mostly the Jews lobby for his "crime" of exposing the increased anti-Muslim approach and policies of the Jews including their backed British media."
Ahmed's initial response was that he had no recollection of making the comments and that he would have to examine the transcripts with his solicitors. On 18 March he resigned from the Joseph Interfaith Foundation as a result of the allegations. At about the same time, he ceased to be a member of the International Expert Team of the Institute Research of Genocide, Canada.
Among the pieces written in the immediate aftermath of the revelation was one by Mehdi Hasan in The Huffington Post which claimed that anti-Semitism within some otherwise well-integrated sections of the British Muslim community was commonplace. In the 28 March interview with Ahmed resulting from this article, Ahmed apologised, describing his comments as "completely unacceptable" and the product of a "twisted mind". He could not explain why he had made the comments.
His appearance before Labour's National Executive Committee to determine whether his suspension should be lifted or whether he should be expelled was due to take place on the 15th of May. On 9th May, it was reported that he was considering pre-empting the hearing by leaving the Labour Party and by the 13th of May he had resigned from the party.
On 13 May 2013, two days before he was scheduled to appear before the Labour National Executive Committee in relation to anti-Semitic remarks he allegedly made in an interview on television in Pakistan, Ahmed resigned from the Labour party, saying that he could not expect a fair hearing. Ahmed resigned from his position as a trustee of the Joseph Interfaith Foundation in March 2013 as a result of these allegations of anti-Semitism.
In February 2019, Ahmed was accused of using his position in the House of Lords to have sex with vulnerable women. One of the women, Tahira Zaman, explained how the pair went on to have an intimate sexual relationship after she had approached Ahmed for help with a personal matter in February 2017. A second woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, also alleged that when she asked Ahmed for help he suggested she should spend the night at his London home which she refused as she interpreted this as a proposition for sex. Ahmed denied acting inappropriately. House of Lords Commissioner for Standards, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, found Tahira Zaman's accusations credible and substantial, but no further action was then taken against Ahmed as his actions did not relate to his parliamentary duties.
The Conduct Committee of the House of Lords considered in 2020 a complaint from a member of the public who had approached Lord Ahmed in 2017 in his capacity as a member of the House. Her complaint was that he "initially made unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature with her and later held out the promise of using his influence to help her, when in fact his aim was to have sex with her". The Commissioner concluded that on the balance of probabilities Lord Ahmed's actions put him "in breach of the Code by failing to act on his personal honour". The Committee on 17 November 2020 published its report, recommending that "Lord Ahmed be expelled from the House under Standing Order 12". It was the first time that expulsion of a peer from the House of Lords had been recommended.
After seeing the report, and before any action was taken, Ahmed resigned from the House of Lords. Despite a career of poor judgement and questionable activities he continues to hold the title of a Life Peer.
On 5 January 2022 he was found guilty of historical sex offences, committed when he was a teenager, being the attempted rape of a child under 13 years of age and sexual assault of another. He was sentenced to five years and six months in prison, reduced on appeal to two years and six months.
Ahmed, was found guilty of buggery against a boy in Rotherham, and twice attempting to rape a girl. Buggery was the legal term for the specific sexual assault at the time of the offences. He was charged alongside his two older brothers, Mohammed Farouq, 71, and Mohammed Tariq, 65, but both were deemed unfit to stand trial.
A woman told a jury at Sheffield crown court that Ahmed attempted to rape her in 1973 and 1974, when the defendant was about 16 or 17 years old, and she was much younger. The former politician was also found guilty of a serious sexual assault against a boy under 11 in 1972.
The jury was played a recording of a telephone call between the two complainants, made by the woman after she went to the police in 2016.
Tom Little QC, prosecuting, told the jury that the call was prompted by the man contacting the woman by email saying "I have evidence against that paedophile."
Ahmed claimed the allegations were a "Malicious Fiction" but the prosecution said the call showed they were "not made up or concocted". In the recording, the woman said to the man "What they did to you was utterly wrong and it's time now to seek justice for the little boy who could not protect himself."
Ahmed, who denied all the charges, was found guilty of two counts of attempted rape and one of buggery.
Appointed a life peer by Tony Blair, Ahmed resigned from the Labour party in 2013, and retired from the House of Lords in 2020 but has retained his peerage and title of Lord Ahmed of Rotherham.
His brothers Farouq and Tariq faced charges of indecent assault in relation to the same boy that Ahmed abused and the jury found that they had carried out the acts alleged.
The judge, Mr Justice Lavender, bailed Ahmed to appear at the same court for sentencing on 4 February.
Rosemary Ainslie, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said the verdicts clearly showed "that no matter the delay between the offences and the trial, and the defences raised, they could be sure that the accounts of the victims were credible and true. One of these defendants held a position of power, influence and responsibility for some time in the House of Lords but this case clearly illustrates that where there is sufficient evidence, even in challenging cases, the CPS will bring a prosecution, put evidence before a jury and see rightful convictions" she added.
Ahmed's male victim, and the Muslim Women's Network UK, called for him to lose his title over his conviction. Under the House of Lords rules, a member convicted of a serious criminal offence resulting in a jail sentence of at least one year can be expelled from the House, although an expelled peer still retains their title, which can only be removed by an act of parliament.
Sympathetic Judges Reduce Sentencing for Child Rape
The former Labour Politician Nazir Ahmed was convicted in January 2022 of three sex crimes, which happened in the 1970s in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
After his trial at Sheffield Crown Court, the Judge handed Ahmed a jail term of five and a half years.
Three appeal court judges have now cut that term to two and a half years after concluding that the trial judge, Mr Justice Lavender "fell into error" when passing sentence. The lord chief justice Lord Burnett, Lord Justice Holroyde, and Lord Justice Davis announced their decision after considering arguments from an appeal hearing in London in January 2023.
Ahmed had been found guilty of two counts of attempted rape and one of buggery. A woman had told Jurors that Ahmed attempted to rape her in the early 1970s, when he was about 16 or 17 and she was much younger. Ahmed was also found guilty of a serious sexual assault against a boy under 11, also in the early 1970s.
Mr Justice Lavender had given Ahmed a three and a half year term for the offence of buggery, and two terms of two years for each of the attempted rapes. He said the attempted rape sentences would run concurrent to each other but be added to the buggery sentence, making a total of five and a half years. Ahmed had challenged the sentencing decision and the appeal judges cut the three and a half year term to just six months, but said both two-year terms would remain - making a total of two and a half years.