British-Bangladeshi Apsana Begum has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Poplar and Limehouse, Tower Hamlets since 2019. A question has arose recently as to whether she will continue to remain an independent or will be admitted to stand for a political party in the next election? This question is being discussed in her parliamentary seat in East London, Daily Dazzling Dawn understands.

Even before the previous election, there were rumours that Apsana Begum MP may not receive her Labour party nomination. However, it was a strongly held belief at the time that even if the party did not nominate her there were viable possibilities for her to have won by running as an independent candidate because of her personal popularity in the constituency. She did become nominated as the Labour candidate and went on to be elected, however for the forthcoming election the context from the previous, no longer remains the same.

As of July 2024 Apsana Begum MP has been suspended by the Labour party following her principled stance in voting against the child benefits cap for families with two children, she has consistently remained firm on left wings ideals. Among the four British-Bangladeshi Labour Party MPs, Apsana arguably is the most active in various community issues, human rights causes and localised events. She has further spoken out on several occasions on varied international concerns, including Palestine. It has been stated from the beginning after she was elected to her seat due to her perceived closeness to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his unwavering stand on traditional Labour principles that she was distanced from the current Prime Minister and party leader. Many other Labour politicians held this distance also but had moved towards the Labour right. However, Apsana Begum was unwavering as has been another former Labour party MP, Zarah Sultana, both of whom to date have walked their own political paths.

Following six months of functioning as independents, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Ian Byrne, Richard Burgon and Imran Hussain have been permitted to rejoin the Labour Party recently. However, left wingers Apsana Begum and Zarah Sultana, as well as former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, remain suspended by the party. Since it is anticipated that their expulsion from the party will be subject to review, there are questions that arise over whether they would be able to run as Labour candidates in the upcoming election or will no longer be readmitted.

Apsana Begum’s support of an SNP amendment to the King's Speech that sought to eliminate the two-child welfare cap, a policy that the Labour party advanced led to PM Keir Starmer to seek the suspension of the MPs in July 2024. The Tory proposal has been held accountable for pushing families into poverty and has an impact on around 1.6 million children. The majority of parents are prohibited from claiming child tax credits or Universal Credit after their first two for additional children. After their suspensions, Ms. Zarah and Ms. Apsana stated that after reading about the benefits cap in the newspaper, they discovered they were being kept in the dark.

"Turns out speaking up for Palestine is still a punishable offense," Ms. Zarah posted on social media as she read from media sources her four colleagues would be readmitted in the Labour party whilst she was not. Additionally, Ms. Apsana wrote, "I discovered through a news item that I have not been granted the return of the Labour whip, who was dismissed for voting to do away with the two-child limit. In my borough, about half of all children live in poverty. To be clear, I will always defend the citizens of Poplar and Limehouse."

As far as is known so far, the chances of MPs Ms. Apsana, Ms. Zarah and Mr. McDonnell returning to the party appear unlikely any time soon. Ultimately, Zarah Sultana and Apsana Begum may contest as independent candidates in the next election. However, if Apsana becomes an independent candidate, there is a high probability that the Labour Party will nominate a candidate of Bangladeshi origin in her seat to contest as the locality has a large Bangladeshi voter base in the constituency and the party may seek to capitalise. Commentators and residents await to see who will gain Labour’s election nomination for the area and whether if not nominated Apsana Begum MP will stand her own as an independent candidate.

The 34 year old Apsana Begum was born on 25 May in Shadwell, Tower Hamlets. Her parents are late Manir Uddin Ahmed and Syeda Nazma Begum. She has five sisters and a brother. Her father was the ex-mayor of Tower Hamlets. Her family hails from greater Sylhet, Bangladesh.