Bashir Ahmad (politician)

Bashir Ahmad ( born February 12, 1940 in Amritsar, Punjab, India, † February 6, 2009 in Glasgow, Scotland) was a Scottish politician and member of the Scottish National Party ( SNP).

Career

In 1961, Ahmad emigrated to Scotland. He first worked as a bus driver and then succeeded in becoming a businessman. Ahmad had several shops, restaurants and a hotel. After meeting with Alex Salmond in 1995 Ahmad founded the group Scots Asians for Independence, which the SNP had become attractive for Scots Asian descent and claims the SNP pursue long-term goals similar to the far-right British National Party scattered.

In the Scottish Parliament elections in 1999 Ahmad was placed on the ninth position on the Regional Evaluation of the SNP for choosing Glasgow Area. In 2003 he was elected as the first Asian SNP politicians at all in the Glasgow City Council. In the 2007 parliamentary elections, Ahmad was again on the Regional Evaluation of Glasgow and won as one of four candidate list of SNP in the constituency a seat in Parliament. Here, he was both the first member of the Scottish Parliament of Asian descent and the first Muslim MP. Bashir Ahmad died on 6 February 2009 of a heart attack. Anne McLaughlin enlisted as next placed on the regional election list without election in the Scottish Parliament after.