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Ayesha Hazarika, Baroness Hazarika

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The Right Honourable
The Baroness Hazarika
MBE
Official portrait, 2024
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office
14 March 2024
Life peerage
Personal details
Born
Ayesha Yousef Hazarika

(1975-12-15) 15 December 1975 (age 49)
Bellshill Maternity Hospital, North Lanarkshire, Scotland
Political partyLabour
EducationLaurel Bank School
Alma materUniversity of Hull
OccupationBroadcaster, journalist, former political adviser

Ayesha Yousef Hazarika, Baroness Hazarika,[1] MBE (born 15 December 1975) is a Scottish broadcaster, journalist and political commentator, and former political adviser to senior Labour Party politicians.[2]

Early life

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Hazarika was born in Bellshill Maternity Hospital, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, to Indian Muslim parents who immigrated from Assam, and was raised in Coatbridge.[3] She was educated at Laurel Bank, an all-girls school in Glasgow,[4] and studied law at the University of Hull. Hazarika had planned to become a solicitor before deciding instead to train as a journalist.[3]

Comedy

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While working as a press officer at the Department of Trade and Industry, Hazarika was persuaded by a friend to take a comedy course run by comedian Logan Murray.[5] She began to perform paid comedy gigs alongside her day job at the DTI. In 2003, Hazarika was a semi-finalist in the Channel 4 stand-up comedy competition So You Think You're Funny,[6] but chose to focus on her work as a political adviser.[5]

After leaving politics, Hazarika performed a stand-up show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2016, inspired by her time in politics.[7] The following show, she tried again with a new show, State of the Nation, in Edinburgh.[8] In December 2018, Hazarika appeared on series 56 episode 10 of Have I Got News for You as Ian Hislop's teammate,[9] a role she reprised in May 2020 during the "Lockdown" series.[10]

Political adviser and commentator

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From 2007 to 2015, Hazarika served as a political adviser to senior Labour Party figures, including Harriet Harman and Ed Miliband, including during the 2010 and 2015 general elections.[8] After leaving her role working for Harman in the aftermath of the 2015 general election, Hazarika was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for political service.[11] It was reported at the time that Harman had proposed Hazarika for a life peerage, but Miliband instead elevated another former adviser (Spencer Livermore) to the House of Lords.[12]

Describing herself as a "moderate" within the Labour Party,[13] Hazarika urged Jeremy Corbyn to resign after the Copeland by-election in early 2017. Following the 2017 general election, in which Labour gained seats, she acknowledged that she had "got it wrong on Corbyn", and urged her "fellow Labour colleagues to acknowledge Corbyn's success and to try to find peace with him".[14]

After departing Westminster, Hazarika tried standup and provides commentary in the media. She has written columns for The Scotsman[15] and the Evening Standard.[16] In 2017, commentator Iain Dale put her at 75 on his list of the "100 Most Influential People on the Left".[17] In 2018, she co-authored a book Punch and Judy Politics: An Insiders' Guide to Prime Minister’s Questions with fellow Labour speechwriter and special adviser Tom Hamilton.

In June 2020, she was one of the launch presenters of the Times Radio digital radio station, presenting Saturday and Sunday drivetime shows.[18]

Hazarika was nominated for a life peerage by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer[19][20] and was created Baroness Hazarika, of Coatbridge in the County of Lanarkshire, on 14 March 2024.[21]

References

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  1. ^ "Parliamentary career for Baroness Hazarika". MPs and Lords. UK Parliament. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  2. ^ Curle, Michael (12 April 2017). "Former Labour Party special adviser Ayesha Hazarika on swapping politics for stand-up comedy". The Independent. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  3. ^ a b Rifkind, Hugo (5 June 2005). "A comedian daughter is just no joke". The Times. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Life lines Asian comedian Ayesha Hazarika knows what life's like at the sharp end: on stage and in government". The Herald. Glasgow. 23 July 2005. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  5. ^ a b Hattenstone, Simon (6 July 2016). "Ayesha Hazarika: 'Labour's best drinker? They're so good at it, I couldn't say'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  6. ^ "comedy cv – the UK's largest collection of comedians biogs and photos". comedycv.co.uk. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  7. ^ "Ayesha Hazarika: Why standing up as a feminist can be a funny business". London Evening Standard. 1 April 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Comedy review: Ayesha Hazarika: State of the Nation". The Scotsman. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  9. ^ "BBC One – Have I Got News for You, Series 56, Episode 10". BBC. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  10. ^ Sherwin, Adam (3 April 2020). "Have I Got News For You lockdown return 'like a more elaborate video-conference'". inews.co.uk.
  11. ^ "No. 61450". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2015. p. N20.
  12. ^ McSmith, Andy (30 December 2015). "Almost 30 Tory Party members or supporters have received New Year's Honours". The Independent. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  13. ^ Hazarika, Ayesha (27 September 2017). "Ayesha Hazarika: Everything in moderation – except in the party of victorious Corbynites". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 27 September 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  14. ^ Hazarika, Ayesha (9 June 2017). "I admit it: I was wrong about Jeremy Corbyn". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Author – Ayesha Hazarika". The Scotsman. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Ayesha Hazarika". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  17. ^ Dale, Iain (25 September 2017). "The 100 Most Influential People on the Left: Iain Dale's 2017 List". LBC. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  18. ^ Lerone, Toby (2 June 2020). "Launch date and schedule revealed for Times Radio". RadioToday. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  19. ^ Walker, Peter (9 February 2024). "Major Tory donor among 13 new peers named in honours list". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Political Peerages 2024". GOV.UK. Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  21. ^ "No. 64348". The London Gazette. 19 March 2024. p. 5510.
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