Political Career
Sarwar was elected as MP for Glasgow Govan in the 1997 general election, becoming Britain's first Muslim MP. He was the first MP to swear the Oath of Allegiance on the Qur'an, using the method laid out by the Oaths Act 1978. Sarwar was suspended from holding office within the Labour Party in 1997 when he was charged with election offences, but he was acquitted in 1999 and the suspension was lifted.
He was re-elected in Glasgow Govan in the 2001 general election. The 2005 general election saw boundary changes in Scotland, so he fought and won the new constituency of Glasgow Central. He faced an opponent from the British National Party, with whom he refused to share a platform, and he persuaded other candidates to do the same. The returning officer announced the result from a platform with no candidates, and Sarwar later made a speech from the floor of the hall.
Sarwar became a member of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee from 2004, and has been chairman since 2005.
In August 2006 he was a signatory to an open letter to Tony Blair criticising British foreign policy.
He played a crucial role in bringing to justice the killers of Glasgow schoolboy Kriss Donald. The killers fled to Pakistan, which has no extradition treaty with Britain. Through his political connections Sarwar was able to agree a one-off, no conditions attached, extradition treaty. They then faced trial and were convicted for the murder.
On 21 June 2007, Sarwar announced he would not stand again at the 2010 general election. His son, Anas Sarwar, succeeded him as MP for the Glasgow Central seat.
In November 2008, Sarwar was one of 18 MPs who signed a Commons motion backing a Team GB football team at the 2012 Olympics, saying football "should not be any different from other competing sports and our young talent should be allowed to show their skills on the world stage". The football governing bodies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all opposed to a Great Britain team, fearing it would stop them competing as individual nations in future tournaments.
His nomination by Gordon Brown for a life peerage in the 2010 Dissolution Honours was blocked by the House of Lords Appointments Commission on the advice of HM Revenue and Customs, but the objections have since been lifted.
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