Shahid Rafique Malik (; born 24 November 1967) is a British Labour Party politician, a technology and media industry chairman, a visiting professor, and chairman and adviser to a number of non-profit organisations. His political career began when he became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dewsbury in 2005 which made him the country’s first British-born Muslim (alongside the current Mayor of London Sadiq Khan) to be elected to the British Parliament. In 2007 he became Britain's first Muslim Minister of International Development, and subsequently served as a Justice Minister and Home Office Minister. In his last Ministerial role at the Department for Communities and Local Government he led the British government's efforts in fighting extremism; overseeing race, faith, and community cohesion; developing The Tames Gateway (the largest development area in Europe); and managing the Fire and Rescue Service Department for Communities and Local Government. He lost his seat in the House of Commons to Simon Reevell in the 2010 general election following significant (60%) boundary changes. Early life Malik was born in Burnley, Lancashire, in 1967. His father Rafique Malik was a district councillor between 1976 and 2006 and a mayor of Burnley, having emigrated from Pakistan in the 1960s. His mother was a Justice of the Peace. He attended Barden High School and Burnley Sixth Form Centre before studying Business Studies at the South Bank Polytechnic in London and later attending Durham University. Malik is one of seven siblings. Pre-parliamentary career Prior to Parliament, his three main areas of work were in the urban regeneration and development field; the voluntary and community sector; and domestic and international anti-poverty, education, human rights and equalities sector. In local/regional regeneration terms, after graduating, Malik initially worked with the East Lancashire Training and Enterprise Council in a business development capacity. This was followed by roles as General Manager of Kashmir Youth Project Rochdale, Group Chief Executive of the Pakistan Muslim Centre and incorporating the Pakistan Enterprise Centre, Sheffield; Head of Policy and Development at the Greater Nottingham Training and Enterprise Council; and then as Chief Executive of Haringey Regeneration Agency, managing a £150 million development programme. He also served for three years as Chair of the Board of Directors of VONEF (voluntary organisations network for European funding in Yorkshire and the Humber); and served as National Chair of the voluntary sector body Urban Forum (1999–2002) elected annually by the 400 plus member