Tahir Ali is the Labour Party MP for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley, having first been elected to parliament for the predecessor seat of Birmingham Hall Green at the 2019 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Ali received 12,798 votes, representing 30.8% of the vote share. An independent candidate, Shakeel Afsar, came second with 7,142 votes (17.2%), while a second independent candidate, Mohammed Hafeez, secured 6,159 votes (14.8%). Ali was elected with a majority of 5,656 votes.

Ali’s margin of victory was substantially reduced from the 2019 election, when he won a majority of around 28,500.

The Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley constituency was newly created for the 2024 general election. It covers southeastern parts of Birmingham, including Hall Green, Moseley, King’s Heath, Sparkbrook and Springfield wards – largely replacing the former Birmingham Hall Green seat.

The constituency is highly diverse, with a large population of South Asian descent, particularly British Pakistanis. Formerly held by the Conservative party until 1997, the area has since become a safe Labour seat.

Ali succeeded Roger Godsiff, who had been the Labour MP for the predecessor seat but was deselected by the party prior to the 2019 general election. Godsiff stood as an independent at the 2019 general election and came third.

Political Career

Ali served as a member of the European scrutiny committee from March 2020 to May 2024. From March 2023 to May 2024, he was a member of the justice select committee.

In March 2025, Ali was one of 20 MPs to sign a letter addressed to the prime minister of Pakistan, to build a new airport in Mirpur, Azad Kashmir in order to save travel time for visitors from Britain.

In a post to X, Ali said: “There has been a long-standing promise for an international airport in Mirpur, which has yet to be met. This causes significant issues to a number of my constituents, who are having to drive over three hours to get to the nearest airport in Pakistan.

“I will continue to push for this cause, and pursue this issue until permission is granted for a new airport.”

https://x.com/TahirAliMP/status/1905645630938292308

This drew criticism from figures including Home Office minister Dan Jarvis and shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick.

Jenrick hit back: “You’re an MP for Birmingham, not Mirpur. The streets of your city are literally piled high in rubbish thanks to your Labour council. Focus on the UK.”

In November 2024, speaking at prime minister’s questions, Ali asked Keir Starmer to “commit to introducing measures to prohibit the desecration of all religious texts and the prophets of Abrahamic religions”.

Critics argued Ali was effectively calling for the introduction of a blasphemy law.

In response to Ali’s question, the prime minister replied: “I agree that desecration is awful and should be condemned across the House. We are, as I said before, committed to tackling all forms of hatred and division, including Islamophobia in all its forms.”

Senior Conservative MP Sir David Davis expressed his disappointment at the prime minister’s response.

Davis posted to X: “For centuries, one of the most important features of Britain’s freedom of speech is the absolute right to criticise religion. Freedom of speech is fundamental to everything we have and everything we stand for. I regret Keir Starmer did not make that clear to Mr Ali at PMQs.”

In January 2024, Ali apologised after saying Rishi Sunak had “the blood of thousands of innocent people on his hands” over the Israel-Gaza conflict.

In a post to X, Ali commented: “While I do not resile from my strongly held views on the situation in the Middle East, I would like to apologise for the way in which I described the prime minister in my question.

“We all have a responsibility to be respectful in the language that we use, even when discussing difficult and, at times, sensitive issues.”

It was reported that Labour’s chief whip Sir Alan Campbell spoke to Ali and asked him to apologise.

Ali is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for Jordan, Kasmir, Turkey and Yemen.

Ali delivered his maiden speech on 5 February 2020.

In it, he said: “I have waited until today, 5 February, to make my maiden speech for two reasons. Many members in the chamber may not be aware that today is Kashmir Solidarity Day.

“On 5 August – exactly six months ago today – the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Indian Government decided to strip the state of Jammu and Kashmir of autonomy after seven decades, characterising it as the correction of a historical blunder. This act is illegal and the international community’s silence on the matter is worrying…

“My role is not to take sides, such as to be pro-Pakistan or anti-India. I believe, as a Kashmiri, that it is my duty to highlight the abuses and human rights violations to this House…

“We have an international obligation to support peace, equality and just treatment for all humans. To quote Martin Luther King, ’Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’.”

He added: “The climate emergency needs to be taken seriously and can be avoided if bold and ambitious steps are taken.”

Before entering parliament, Ali served as a Labour councillor on Birmingham City Council for 20 years, representing the Nechells ward from 1999 to 2019.

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Starmer stand down: In May 2026, Ali publicly called for Keir Starmer, the prime minister, to step down/set out a timetable for his departure. The move followed the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru.

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Ali was one of 24 Labour MPs who nominated Bell Ribeiro-Addy for the party’s deputy leadership in September 2025. The election followed the resignation of Angela Rayner, who stepped down as deputy prime minister and deputy party leader after an investigation into her tax affairs. It marked the first time since 2007 that Labour had held a deputy leadership contest while in government.

Ribeiro-Addy, a member of the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG), was seen as the candidate on the left of the party. She secured only 24 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), far short of the 80 required under rules introduced in 2021.

Labour leadership 2020: Ali was one of 33 Labour MPs who nominated Rebecca Long-Bailey for the party’s leadership in early 2020. The election was triggered by the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn following the party’s defeat in the 2019 general election, which resulted in Labour’s fewest seats in the House of Commons since 1935.

Long-Bailey, then the shadow business secretary, was widely regarded as the continuity candidate for the party’s left/Corbynite wing. Long-Bailey finished second with 27.6% of the vote, losing to Keir Starmer, who won a decisive victory in the first round with 56.2%.

Factional identity and party tradition

Socialist Campaign Group: Ali is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG) – the standard-bearer of the left wing within the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP). Founded in 1982 by followers of Tony Benn, the group has traditionally advocated policies such as widespread public ownership, wealth redistribution and strengthened trade union rights.

Corbyn suspension: In November 2020, Ali was among the 32 SCG MPs to sign a statement declaring that they opposed the suspension of Jeremy Corbyn and calling for the disciplinary action to be “swiftly reversed”.

The statement read: “This decision and the division it causes severely undermines efforts to unite to defeat antisemitism and fully implement the EHRC [Equality and Human Rights Commission] recommendations and to challenge and defeat this disastrous Conservative government.”

Corbyn’s suspension came after he issued a response to the EHRC report, arguing “the scale of the [antisemitism] problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents”.

Brexit and Europe

Remain pledge: During the 2019 general election campaign, Ali was one of 193 Labour candidates to sign the anti-Brexit “Remain pledge”, drawn up by the campaign group Remain Labour.

It stated: “Labour is committed to a confirmatory referendum, to give you the final say on Brexit. If elected as your Labour MP, I pledge to campaign to Remain in the EU.”

Welfare

Welfare ‘reasoned amendment’ (June 2025): Ali was one of the over 120 Labour MPs to sign the reasoned amendment to the government’s flagship welfare bill which aimed to reject the proposed legislation.

The amendment, in the name of senior Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, objected to the fact that the bill had not been subject to a “formal consultation with disabled people” and that “250,000 people will be pushed into poverty” as a result of it, according to a government impact assessment.

The motion also called on the government to wait for the publication of the review into the Personal Independence Payment (Pip), helmed by minister Sir Stephen Timms, and the independent review, conducted by Sir Charlie Mayfield, into how the employment of disabled people could be boosted.

Welfare vote (July 2025): Ali went on to abstain over the bill at second reading. The vote came after ministers agreed to significant concessions to avoid defeat via a mass rebellion of Labour MPs on 1 July 2025.

Assisted dying

Ali 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).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Ali voted against a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Foreign policy and security

Nato-scepticism: In February 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ali was one of 11 Labour MPs on the left of the party threatened with losing the party whip after they signed a statement by the Stop the War Coalition which criticised Nato, accusing the military alliance of “eastward expansion”.

All 11 MPs, Ali included, subsequently removed their signatures.

Palestine

LFPME: Ali is a member of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East (LFPME). The organisation’s stated aim is to promote peace and justice in the region through the application of international law and respect for human rights.

Palestine Action vote: In July 2025, Ali was one of 26 MPs to vote against the proscription of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act of 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.

Ceasefire vote (November 2023): Ali was among 56 Labour MPs to vote in favour of a Scottish National Party (SNP) amendment to the King’s Speech in the House of Commons calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war – defying the instruction set out by the party’s frontbench. Labour had tabled its own motion, making a more moderate appeal for a “humanitarian pause” in the conflict and ordered its representatives to support that stance.

Other

Covid passes campaign (2021): Ali was one of over 70 MPs and peers who launched a cross-party campaign against the “divisive and discriminatory use” of Covid passes in April 2021. The campaign was triggered by government reviews into “vaccine passports”, which signatories argued would create a two-tier society and infringe upon fundamental civil liberties.

Spycops vote (2020): In October 2020, Ali was one of the 34 Labour MPs to break the party whip by voting against the covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill at its commons third reading. The proposed legislation in question, often referred to as the “spycops bill”, was introduced by the Conservative government to authorise undercover agents and informants to commit crimes while on operations. The Labour Party had whipped its representatives to abstain on the bill on the basis that the legislation is “far from perfect” yet “necessary” due to “the need to provide a clear lawful framework for the use of human intelligence sources”.

Before Politics

Born in Birmingham in 1971, Ali secured an engineering apprenticeship with Royal Mail at the age of 17.

He became an active trade unionist with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), eventually serving as a political officer for the union.

Personal Life

Ali is married and has four children.

Trivia

The constituency Ali represents includes Sarehole Mill, a former water mill that served as childhood inspiration for author J.R.R. Tolkien’s depictions of Hobbiton and the Shire in his famous fantasy novels.