Following the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner on Friday amid allegations of tax evasion, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer undertook a major cabinet reshuffle, announcing the appointment of Shabana Mahmood as the United Kingdom’s new Home Secretary. Starmer’s decision reverberated well beyond Westminster, sending shockwaves from London to Washington, D.C. She will oversee borders, police, and immigration.
Mahmood’s website states that she is “a passionate supporter of Palestinian rights.” According to 7 Israel National News, “she was born in Birmingham to parents of Pakistani descent” and has “a history of supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.”
In the video below, Mahmood is shown at a pro-Palestinian rally in her hometown.
Foreign policy analyst Nile Gardiner said the choice has set off “alarm bells” in Washington, D.C. because of the threat it poses to future “intelligence sharing” between the U.S. and the U.K.
According to The Jewish Chronicle, in 2014, Mahmood, then serving as a Labour Party Member of Parliament, faced significant criticism from Jewish leaders for her involvement in an anti-Israel protest that forced the temporary closure of a supermarket. Mahmood participated in a demonstration outside a Sainsbury’s branch in Birmingham, objecting to the sale of goods alleged to originate from “illegal settlements.” She subsequently used social media to endorse a boycott of Israel — a stance at odds with official Labour Party policy.
At a rally the following week, Mahmood spoke proudly of her role in the demonstration:
I was with 200 activists outside Sainsbury’s in the centre of Birmingham. We lay down in the street and we laid down inside Sainsbury’s to say we object to them stocking goods from illegal settlements – and that they must stop. We managed to close down that store at peak time on a Saturday. This is how we can make a difference.
In the July 2014 tweet below, Mahmood invited followers to join her #bds #FreePalestine “demo.”
In 2020, she signed the letter below that demanded illegal immigrants who had committed crimes be allowed to remain in the U.K.
In February 2024, Mahmood called for a two-state solution, as per 7 Israel:
Because a one-state solution does not make the people of Israel safe, it actually condemns them to insecurity and concerns for their safety in perpetuity.
And it is an outrage to adopt a position that says that the people of Israel can have self-determination but the people of Palestine cannot. That is not acceptable and we cannot allow the continued degradation and denigration of the fundamental human rights of the Palestinian people.
The following month, Fox News reported that Mahmood had called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and accused Israel of killing innocent civilians. In a letter to her constituents at the time, she wrote:
I have always supported a diplomatic process to stop the killing of innocent civilians, get humanitarian aid in and get the hostages out. But it is clear that diplomatic processes have not made sufficient progress. The conduct of this war has been intolerable, with a disproportionate level of attacks on innocent people that has rightly been the deliberations in international courts.
In July 2024, following Labour’s landslide victory in the general election, Starmer appointed Mahmood as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor.
One year later, Starmer delivered a speech clarifying the British Government’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although it began by acknowledging that “Hamas perpetrated the worst massacre in Israel’s history” on Oct. 7, 2023, it went on to detail the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
I can confirm the UK will recognise the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a Two State Solution.
It is hard to imagine that Mahmood’s fingerprints were not all over this ultimatum.
From a conservative perspective, at a moment when the United Kingdom is reeling from an unprecedented migrant crisis, Starmer could hardly have chosen a more ill-suited individual to take charge of the Home Office. To his critics, the appointment smacks of ideological posturing at the expense of national security and public confidence. Yet to Starmer and his circle, it is hailed as a calculated masterstroke — a defiant signal of his government’s priorities. Whether this gambit proves visionary or disastrously naïve will become clear soon enough.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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