Naz Shah, the Labour MP for Bradford West, has spoken publicly about the day she and her mother were arrested on suspicion of murder in 1992. Shah was 18 at the time and found the experience thrilling at first. 'I’ll be honest with you, I had fun. It was the most excitement I’d ever had in my flipping life,' she said. 'They took my clothes and gave me this white suit to wear, and I was saying, “Ooh, I look foxy in this, don’t I?” I was having a right laugh with the police officers.'
The arrest followed the death of Azam, a man Shah considered an uncle, who had been poisoned with arsenic. Shah and her mother, Zoora, had cooked the previous night’s supper. Shah was released, but her mother admitted making the dessert containing the arsenic and was convicted of murder in December 1993, receiving a 20-year prison sentence. Shah attempted suicide twice after her mother’s conviction.
Shah left school at 12, was forced into an arranged marriage at 15, and raised her two younger siblings while her mother was in jail. Despite these challenges, she became a campaigner, held high-powered jobs, and has been an MP for 11 years. Her memoir, 'Honoured', explores the South Asian concept of izzat (honour) and the dishonour her family experienced after her father left them. Shah said she wrote the book to heal and to show that survival is possible.
Shah, now 52, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder two years ago. She started the book in 2017 but put it aside for six years, saying she had 'healing to do'. The memoir details her traumatic past and her journey to becoming an MP.
