Wajid Khan, Baron Khan of Burnley

Wajid Iltaf Khan, Baron Khan of Burnley (born 15 October 1979), is a British Labour Party politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England from 2017 to 2019 and as Mayor of Burnley from 2020 to 2021. He has served as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government since July 2024.

He sat on the Foreign Affairs Committee and Human Rights Committee, as well as the Arab Peninsula and South Asia delegations. His main policy interests include workers’ rights, youth empowerment and human rights.

In December 2020, it was announced he would be conferred a life peerage after a nomination by Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer.

Early life
The son of a taxi driver and a house-wife, Wajid was born in Burnley, Lancashire, where he continues to live with his wife and two children. He read for a Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws (European Law), at The University of Central Lancashire, working as a taxi driver to fund his studies.

Career
Before becoming an MEP, Wajid was a senior lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire for 12 years, and a course leader in community leadership for 11 years.

Prior to this, Wajid worked in the voluntary sector with young offenders, as well as teaching education programmes for homeless young people. The Burnley race riots in 2001 inspired Wajid to develop a number of community cohesion projects, which gained him the Higher Education Active Community Fund (HEACF) Volunteering Award for social and community cohesion in 2004.

Wajid's work in community development has seen him address the Civil G8 on inclusive education in Moscow, and advised the Russian Ministry of Education and Science on developing youth strategies.

He has contributed to European-wide ‘Volunteurope’ conferences in Germany, France, Poland, Bosnia and Italy.

Within the UK, Wajid has developed higher education programmes to increase academic participation amongst women in the south Asian community. Wajid has directed international leadership conferences in Oman, Turkey, Pakistan and the US, and has represented the University of Central Lancashire in collaborative projects with Russian NGOs.

Wajid is an alumnus of both of HRH Prince Charles' leadership initiatives: the Mosaic international Leadership Programme as well as the Oxford Young Muslim Leadership Programme.

He also serves on the Labour Party National Policy Forum and International Policy Commission, in addition to serving on the North West regional board.

MEP
Khan was included in Labour's eight-person shortlist for the 2014 European Parliament election. He took over the North West England seat in July 2017, replacing Afzal Khan who was elected as a Member of Parliament in the general election. As an MEP he was the Labour Spokesperson for Human Rights, and sat on the  Foreign Affairs Committee and the  Human Rights Committee. He lost his seat in the 2019 European Parliament election.

House of Lords
Lord Khan joined the House of Lords in February 2021 and has held several Opposition Posts. Since May 2021 he has been an Opposition Whip in the House of Lords, and since December 2021 he has been the Shadow Spokesperson for Levelling Up, Housing, Communities and Local Government.