Pathways into Politics, Workshop with Cllr Hannan Sarwar, 1st April 2020

On 1st April 2020, Forward Thinking held a video conference with Cllr Hannan Sarwar and ‘Pathways into Politics’ participants from the February leadership programme.Pathways into Politics is a programme which is aimed at developing the ambition of young Muslims to engage with politics and their ability to be able to do so. The programme seeks to develop the participants’ leadership and communication skills as well as their political literacy.Cllr Hannan Sarwar is a Conservative Councillor for Wilmslow. Elected in May 2019 when he was 18 years old, he is the UK’s youngest Muslim Councillor and the first British Pakistani to be elected to local government. Alongside his work in local government, Cllr Sarwar is studying Law & Politics LLB at Keele University. He is also an active member of and campaigner for the Conservative Party.Sarwar gave a short talk in which he was able to share with the participants his journey into politics, including how he became selected for local council and how he was subsequently elected. He spoke to some of his successes through his work in politics, as well as some of the challenges that he has encountered and how he was able to overcome them.The session then opened up for questions and answers and participants spoke to Sarwar about his experiences of Islamophobia in politics; his time within the Conservative party and his decision to join; his experiences dealing with coronavirus in his council work; and his advice for young people who want to enter politics, among others.We are currently exploring opportunities for further sessions with other speakers in the coming weeks to further hone the skills of the participants.