Afzal Khan

Mohammed Afzal Khan, (محمد افضل خان; born 5 April 1958) is a British Labour politician who serves as a Member of Parliament for the Manchester Gorton constituency, after his election on 8 June 2017. He was formerly Lord Mayor of Manchester for 2005–2006, and a Member of the European Parliament representing North West England from 2014–2017.

Early life
Khan was born in Pakistan and came to the UK aged 11. After leaving school without qualifications, he had a number of jobs – including as a Greater Manchester Police constable– before returning to education and qualifying as a solicitor: he is now a partner of solicitors Mellor & Jackson in Oldham.

Political career
Khan was first elected a Councillor in 2000 being re-elected in 2004, 2007 and 2011, representing Cheetham Ward and also served as Executive Member for Children's Services. Khan was the youngest, first British Pakistani and Muslim, Lord Mayor of Manchester for 2005–2006. He has also served as Assistant Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain and is currently its North West representative.

From 2000 to 2004, Khan was a member of the Department of Trade and Industry's Ethnic Minority Business Forum, advising the then Secretary of State, Patricia Hewitt. Following the 2005 London bombings, he became a member of a Home Office working group aimed at preventing extremism. Khan was appointed CBE for his race relations work and in 2011 was suggested as a candidate for Oldham East and Saddleworth. In 2012, he was a potential Labour candidate for the Bradford West by-election, but instead Imran Hussain was selected; Hussain was defeated at the by-election by George Galloway.

Afzal Khan was selected in February 2013 on the Labour Party's list for North West England at the European Parliamentary election of 2014 and, on 22 May 2014, he was returned as MEP to the European Parliament to represent North West England.

In January 2016, Khan was appointed by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament as Special Representative to Muslim Communities. In this function, Khan will visit Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Denmark for work with local Muslim communities but he will also be inviting groups of young Muslims to the Parliament. In March 2017 he applied to be Labour's candidate in the Manchester Gorton by-election, 2017, and was officially selected on 22 March. The by-election was cancelled, however, following the dissolution of Parliament for an early general election on 8 June 2017. Khan was again selected for as the Labour candidate for the general election and won the seat, becoming Manchester's first Muslim MP.

On 3 July 2017, Khan was appointed by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as Shadow Immigration Minister within the Shadow Home Office team.

In March 2018, Khan received a suspicious package containing an anti-Islamic letter and sticky liquid. The substance was later found to be harmless. Similar packages were received by fellow Labour MPs Mohammad Yasin (politician), Rushanara Ali and Rupa Huq.