Shockat Adam is the independent MP for Leicester South, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Adam won 14,739 votes, representing 35.2% of the vote. The Labour and Co-operative candidate, Jonathan Ashworth (the incumbent MP), received 13,760 votes (32.9%), while the Conservative candidate, Gerri Hickton, secured 4,820 votes (11.5%). Adam was duly elected with a majority of 979.

The Leicester South constituency was recreated in its current form in 1974. Prior to the 2024 election, it had been held by the Labour Party since 1987, with the exception of a period following a 2004 by-election which was won by the Liberal Democrats. Before 1987, it had also been represented by Conservative MPs.

The immediate predecessor MP for Leicester South was Jonathan Ashworth, representing the Labour and Co-operative Party, who had held the seat since a by-election in 2011. At the time of the 2024 general election, Ashworth sat on Labour’s frontbench as shadow paymaster general. Adam’s victory was therefore seen as a notable “Portillo moment”.

Political Career

Adam was one of five independent MPs returned at the 2024 general election on platforms that emphasised Palestinian solidarity.

Adam co-founded the Independent Alliance of pro-Palestinian MPs, alongside Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North), Adnan Hussain (Blackburn), Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) and Iqbal Mohamed (Dewsbury and Batley).

In a joint-statement issued upon the group’s founding, the Independent Alliance MPs committed themselves “to provide hope in a parliament of despair”.

They added: “Millions of people are crying out for a real alternative to austerity, inequality and war – and their voices deserve to be heard. As individuals we were voted by our constituents to represent their concerns in parliament on these matters, and more, and we believe that as a collective group we can carry on doing this with greater effect.”

Adam was among the Independent Alliance MPs who backed a Conservative Party motion opposing the government’s plan to levy VAT on independent schools. The motion called on ministers to publish a full impact assessment to show the effects of the planned reforms on independent schools and the state sector.

On 3 July 2025, the leading left-wing MP, Zarah Sultana, announced she was leaving Labour to co-found a new political party alongside Corbyn. The move immediately marked the most significant split on the British left in decades and was expected to include the Independent Alliance MPs. Following her social media statement, Sultana announced she would join the Independent Alliance.

However, the developments that followed Sultana’s announcement pointed to significant internal friction.

In September, Sultana launched a membership portal without the full agreement of Corbyn and the interim leadership. More than 20,000 people registered within hours. Corbyn publicly described the new membership portal as a “false… system” and referred the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office. In response, Sultana accused Corbyn’s inner circle of forming a “sexist boys’ club” that sought to exclude her from decision-making, an allegation his team denied.

Corbyn’s statement denouncing the new membership platform was co-signed by all of the Independent Alliance MPs, including Adam, except Sultana. This appeared to signify the fact that Sultana had left the alliance.

The new organisation officially registered with the Electoral Commission as “Your Party” on 30 September 2025. Mere weeks later, independent MPs Adnan Hussain and Iqbal Mohamed quit the party entirely. Hussain and Mohamed remained members of the Independent Alliance in the House of Commons.

The party’s inaugural conference in Liverpool in November 2025 was marred by a first-day boycott by Sultana. Delegates also voted to make the previously proposed “Your Party” name permanent.

Adam continues to be listed as an independent MP but is understood to remain a member of Your Party.

Adam addressed Your Party conference in November 2025. In his address, the MP accused rival parties of having “colonised” the minds of voters.

According to a Left Foot Forward report, he stated: “We have this opportunity with Your Party to make that change. We have to make this change. We have to make this happen. We must unite. We must not allow small differences to disunite us. We will not succeed – we have to stay united to make that change, our country, our future depends on it…

“Otherwise we will fail. And we cannot afford to fail. We must unite this country. We must unite our differences. And we will not let our differences consume us. [Otherwise], we will fail, we will have let down our young and our future and they will not forgive us. We have the power to change. We have the power to rise. We must use it, and we need to do so now.”

Adam is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for eye health and visual impairment, obstructive sleep apnoea, race and community, and special educational needs and disabilities.

Adam delivered his maiden speech on 23 July 2024 during a debate on immigration and home affairs. In it, he stated: “I arrived in this country as a toddler from the heart of Africa to the heart of the midlands: Leicester.

“That city nurtured, schooled and shaped me. It would be fair to say that, no matter where I am in the world, there is a corner of a foreign field that is forever Leicester. The vibrancy, the diversity and, occasionally, the complete rawness of the city were the backdrop of my upbringing.”

He added: “I will always endeavour to speak truth to power and demand that this new Government take action for the poor and dispossessed, not just the powerful…

“If my campaign ever had a catchphrase, it would be the Chinese proverb that says, ‘The best time to plant a tree was 25 years ago, in order to enjoy its beauty, its shade and its fruit, but the next best time is today.’

“We must plant that seed of unity, equality and justice now to ensure that our future generations can enjoy the fruits of friendship, fairness and peace.”

Adam’s 2024 general election campaign was highly critical of the then-Labour opposition’s stance on the conflict in Gaza. Upon his victory being declared, Adam stated: “This is for Gaza.” His acceptance speech also referred to the cost of living crisis and the state of the NHS.

Commenting on his victory in an interview with the Observer, published July 2024, Adam said: “What people are doing is exercising their democratic rights for the things that they’re concerned about. People in certain positions of power and in the media weaponise terminologies, causing division between communities.

“And this is just another example of that, when involvement by minorities or involvement in the political system by Muslims is seen as a threat for some reason, whereas all they’re doing is exercising their democratic right and being part of the democratic process.”

Ashworth, the defeated incumbent, claimed to have been harassed and intimidated during the election campaign. In an interview following the contest, the former MP told LBC: “I have never known a campaign of such vitriol, such bullying, such intimidation built on the foul and obnoxious lie that I was responsible for genocide. That I had the blood of Gazan children on my hands.

“This is the campaign that was run by a minority of bullies, and loud mouths. This is not representative of the many, many Muslim constituents I was proud to represent. This is not Muslim values.”

Asked if he accepted Ashworth’s view of events, Adam told The House magazine in September 2024: “It’s very difficult, because harassment is a very subjective feeling.”

He added: “I got robust questioning. I was told to go away because I’m of a certain ethnicity, in no uncertain terms, on certain doors… That doesn’t mean it had anything to do with Jon [Ashworth].”

Shortly after the election, in July 2024, Adam reported receiving death threats which prevented him from attending Parliament on one occasion. In a statement, he publicly thanked Leicestershire and Cambridgeshire police for their assistance, adding: “Aggressive behaviour towards me and my family has become commonplace, but I can assure my constituents it will not deter me from my duties.”

Political views

Adam identifies his political views as generally left-wing.

In his interview with The House magazine, Adam cited his frustration with the two major parties over immigration and rhetoric he described as “xenophobic, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic”.

He said: “There was no tangible, reasonable voice on the traditional left to make a case for those that didn’t have a voice, and that was when I started to feel disenfranchised.

“There was this real xenophobic, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic rhetoric, and nobody from the two main parties was vocalising the concerns of many people on the ground.”

He revealed that he decided to stand for parliament after Jonathan Ashworth, his predecessor as the MP for Leicester South, chose not to vote for a Scottish National Party (SNP) amendment calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in November 2023.

“I was encouraged by many people, much to my initial hesitancy, because I’ve got a young family, I’ve got a business, I’m happy with life… But that’s when I decided to enter the field”, he said.

Brexit and Europe

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Adam voted in favour of the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the 10-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union. In total, 13 Labour MPs joined the Liberal Democrats in supporting the motion, while the majority of the party abstained.

Welfare

Winter fuel payment EDM: In September 2024, Adam signed an early day motion (EDM) expressing concern over the government’s proposed changes to the winter fuel payment. The motion called on the government to “postpone the ending of winter fuel payments and establish a comprehensive strategy to tackle fuel poverty, health inequality and low incomes among older people.”

Assisted dying

Adam voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

Palestine

In October 2024, Adam introduced a private member’s bill (PMB) calling on the government to recognise Palestine as a state. It was sponsored by all other members of the Independent Alliance.

Palestine Action vote: In July 2025, Adam was one of 26 MPs to vote against the proscription of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000. The ban, passed by 385 votes to 26, came after the Home Office accused the group of “aggressive and intimidatory attacks against businesses, institutions and the public”. However, civil liberties organisations argued proscription represented an overreach of state power and a threat to the right to protest.

Before Politics

Born Shockat Hussain Adam Patel in Malawi in November 1972, Shockat Adam grew up in Leicester after moving to the UK aged two. His family background is Muslim Memon of Gujarati Indian descent.

He attended sixth-form college in Leicester, before studying optometry at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.

Adam is a qualified optometrist and businessman. He is a director of Sask Optics, a family business co-owned with his wife and brother. He worked in this field for 25 years prior to entering Parliament.

Prior to becoming an MP, Adam had not been a member of any political party, although he supported the Labour candidate (Claudia Webbe) in Leicester East in the 2019 general election.

He was involved in community work, including chairing the Leicester branch of Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) and hosting local election hustings.

Personal Life

Adam is married and has mentioned having a young family.

He is Muslim. His brother is Ismail Patel, founder of the Leicester-based NGO Friends of Al-Aqsa.

Trivia

In his interview with The House magazine, Adam stated that he had never been on social media before his election campaign.

He also described himself as a “relatively private person”.