After a six-week general election campaign, more than 46 million people in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland were eligible to vote on Thursday to elect 650 members of the House of Commons for a five-year term.
"I am the first Kurdish woman running for the Conservative Party for Warrington North. I am the first female candidate of Kurdish heritage to represent the Conservative Party in an election," Yasmin al-Atroshi, 29, told Rudaw on Thursday.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Atroshi served on the frontlines as a Foundation Pharmacist in the NHS.
"Noticing inefficiencies in the NHS, I transitioned into project management. I successfully managed a £100 million merger between two NHS hospitals and delivered a new and improved hospital as well as reducing prescription waiting times,” she said.
“If elected, I will leverage this experience to collaborate with the government to reduce waiting lists, ensuring more people can get the appointments they need and driving necessary reforms within the NHS," she added.
In an open letter to the voters in Warrington North last week, Atroshi wrote, "For too long your Labour party MP has ignored you and abandoned you. Just like my party has done to me."
Her Kurdish heritage had given her “a fire in my belly to fight for those who have been forgotten," she added.
Feryal Clark, 45, is another woman with a Kurdish background running in the UK parliamentary elections. Born and raised in Britain, she is a member of the Labour Party. Her parents are originally from Malatya, Turkey.
Clark was first elected to parliament in 2019 and is seeking re-election.
Sarbaz Barznji, the mayor of Lambeth and a Labour Party member, told Rudaw "In our party, only Feryal Clark is a Kurdish candidate, and she is proud of her Kurdish background. Though she was born here [in the UK] and has lived in this country for many years."
Clark has “a very strong chance” of winning, Barzanji added.
"We support her and have campaigned for her. We think there should be people like Feryal in parliament to keep the balance,” Barzanji said. "The Kurdish diaspora does not belong to one party and people support political parties according to their beliefs.”
In the last UK election held in 2019, two Kurds were able to secure parliamentary seats: Feryal Clark and Nadhim Zahawi.
Zahawi, of Faili Kurdish descent, went on to hold several senior government positions, including Minister of State for Education, Minister of Finance, Minister of Equality, Minister of Internal Relations, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Zinar Shino contributed to this article.
