Could Mahmood become the left's answer to Thatcher?

The ink was barely dry on Shabana Mahmood's letter of appointment as home secretary by Keir Starmer when speculation began that she could follow him as Labour leader one day.

- SIMON WALTERS

Until her promotion, little was known about Mahmood, 44 and the MP for Birmingham Ladywood. So let's fill in some of the gaps.

Her father owned a small shop, she attended state schools, was awarded a second-class degree at Oxford University, was elected to run a prestigious student body, and qualified as a barrister.

She became an MP, served in her party's Treasury team before rising quickly through ministerial ranks, and is renowned at Westminster for her no-nonsense approach and working 16-hour days.

She takes a small-C conservative stance on social and ethical issues, is devoutly religious, has won praise from Jewish leaders for opposing antisemitism, supports tough action on immigration, and is less slavishly pro-European than her deeply unpopular party leader.

Moreover, unlike Starmer, she has a clear sense of direction and, in her mid-forties, finds herself being talked about as a future leader and saviour of her party and the country.

That is a summary of Mahmood's impressive personal and political career so far. And remarkably, every single detail fits the CV of another notable female politician: Margaret Thatcher.

Which is why some are describing Mahmood as the “Thatcher of the left”. On first hearing, it sounds implausible, impertinent even.

Mahmood is a Labour MP, a Muslim with Pakistani parents, and represents a parliamentary constituency with one of the highest unemployment rates in the West Midlands and where most constituents are nonwhite. She has been fighting the Tories for much of her life.

Thatcher was a Conservative MP from a strict Methodist background who represented prosperous Finchley in north London and led her party to three crushing election victories over Labour.