Tahir Ali

Tahir Ali has been Labour MP for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley since 2019. Born in Birmingham in October 1971 to Pakistani immigrant parents, he secured an engineering apprenticeship at Royal Mail at 17, became an active trade unionist and a political officer for the Communication Workers Union, and served over 20 years as a Birmingham city councillor for Nechells (1999 to 2003 and 2004 to 2022). A member of the Socialist Campaign Group, he came to Parliament from a working class and trade union background.

He succeeded Roger Godsiff, a controversial figure after he backed protests against LGBT inclusive relationship education in Birmingham primary schools, inheriting the constituency dynamics that came with it. In the 2019 to 2024 Parliament he recorded 28 rebellions, one of the higher rates in the PLP, and he sits on the European Scrutiny and Justice Committees. In May 2026 he called on Keir Starmer to resign.

His record is dominated by international and identity politics, and the controversies that follow them. His own website lists eight Gaza demands ahead of any domestic priority, an ordering that is itself a statement about where he locates his mandate. He drew criticism for a "blood on his hands" intervention at PMQs in January 2024 and for lobbying over Mirpur airport, campaigns seen as distant from constituency needs, and his call for legislation against the desecration of religious texts raised concerns about blasphemy law by another route. In May 2025 the IPSA Compliance Officer opened an inquiry into whether he had breached the staffing and business costs scheme, having claimed over £59,000 in 2023/24; his office said he had acted in good faith and cooperated fully.

He was elected again in 2024 with 12,798 votes (30.8 per cent) and a majority of 5,656 (13.6 per cent), with two independent candidates together taking over 13,000 votes.