Biography

Sajjad Haider Karim born 11 July 1970 in Blackburn is a British politician. He was first elected to the European Parliament in 2004, aged 33. He was re-elected in June 2009 and in 2014. He is a solicitor by profession and has been the Legal Affairs Spokesman for the Conservatives in the European Parliament since 2009.

Being a spokesman to the WTO, Karim Chairs the European Parliament South Asia Trade Monitoring Board; South Caucuses Delegation and is rotating chair of the powerful Parliamentary Conduct Committee. Karim was given the highest National Honor bestowed on foreigners by Pakistan for his role in securing a British Government lead initiative delivering favorable market access for Pakistan to the EU. The Queen and Nelson Mandela hold the same award.

Profile

Karim is the first European born and British Muslim elected to the European Parliament, was elected to represent the North West England in 2004 as a Liberal Democrat. He re-joined the Conservative Party in 2007 and was re-elected to the European Parliament in June 2009. In May 2014 he was re-elected to serve a third term. His family hails from Mandi Baha-u-Din and Gujrat, Pakistan.

Karim attended Walter Street County primary school Brierfield and thereafter Mansfield High School, Brierfield. He completed his A-levels at Nelson and Colne College before studying Law at University. He attended the College of Law in Chester studying Law. He qualified as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1997 and rose to becoming an equity partner very quickly specializing in cases of serious fraud defence work.

Karim’s earliest political activity started with leafleting at the age of seven for the then Conservative parliamentary candidate for Pendle. He later joined the Liberal Democrats in 1989. Sajjad was elected a member of Pendle Borough Council in 1994 and served until 2002 representing Brierfield ward.

Karim is interested in human rights issues including child labor and the civil liberties of EU citizens in the War on Terror. He has hosted a number of conferences in the European Parliament on the issue.

Sajjad was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for the University of Management and Technology in Lahore. In August 2014 Karim was awarded the Sitara-i-qaid-i-Azam, Pakistan’s highest national honour to non-Pakistanis, for his services to strengthen Pakistan/UK and Pakistan/EU relations. Karim was presented with the award in March 2015 by Pakistan President, Mamnoon Hussain, at a ceremony in Islamabad.

In January 2015, Karim was nominated for the Politician of the Year award at the British Muslim Awards.