It was a sad day when Mushtaq Qureshi passed away at the end of last month.  Mushtaq was one of those truly great people who spent his life working for others – for the Labour Party, for the Bangladeshi community of which he was such a prominent member and, of course, for his family.  A councillor in Queen’s Park Ward for the past 15 years up until his death, Mushtaq was the first Bangladeshi to be elected to Westminster Council.  He had been active in the Labour Party since coming to Britain over 50 years ago, having previously served as Vice-Chairman of the Awami League in his native Bangladesh.  It is a measure of his desire to help others that when Mushtaq retired from the restaurant business he worked at the Paddington Citizens’ Advice Bureau in Harrow Road. 

I was privileged to know Mushtaq and spend time at his family home in Maida Vale.  His daughter Papya, who is now also a Westminster councillor for Westbourne Ward, worked for me in Brussels for nearly a year.  I know his son Murad as a hard working member of the Greater London Assembly, having also been a Westminster Councillor  representing Church Street Ward.  The Qureshis are a truly remarkable family.

Many condolences to the Qureshi family.  All of those many people who knew Mushtaq will miss him for himself and for his very real commitment to those around him and to the causes in which he believed.