Here’s what we know about the role Ali will play in preventing the “national scandal” of rising homelessness.
What has Rushanara Ali said about her plans for tackling homelessness?
Rushanara Ali will work under housing secretary Angela Rayner in the newly renamed Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
She is succeeding Tory MP Felicity Buchan and will also succeed former housing minister Lee Rowley on the building safety side of her brief.
As well as her responsibilities on homelessness and rough sleeping, Ali will work on matters relating to exempt accommodation, domestic abuse, asylum and resettlement schemes for people fleeing in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Hong Kong.
While she hasn’t publicly commented on her appointment at the time of writing, the minister has been responding to written questions from MPs.
Quizzed on whether the government will finally remove the Vagrancy Act from the law, Ali said: “The government is clear that homelessness is too high and can have a devastating impact on those affected.
“We need to take a long term approach and to tackle the different factors that can cause people to become homeless.
“We will consider these issues carefully and, working with mayors and councils across the country, develop a new cross-government strategy to put Britain back on track to ending homelessness. This will include consideration of any relevant legislation.”
So far, the Labour government has not set out a long-term plan for tackling homelessness but has looked at some of the root causes, including the aforementioned rent reforms and plans to boost housebuilding.
What is Rushanara Ali’s record on homelessness and housing?
Rushanara Ali has generally voted in line with Labour on housing issues, according to analysis from TheyWorkForYou.
Her voting record shows she has voted against charging a market rent for high earners in council homes and voted for stronger fire safety measures. She has also backed more proscriptive planning laws and making landlords pay for the costs of building safety works.
The MP also voted against phasing out secure tenancies for life.
Ali quizzed David Cameron on homelessness back in June 2013 when she asked the then-prime minister: “The number of homeless families living in temporary accommodation rose by 5,000 in the last year. Will the prime minister explain why?”
After Cameron told her the country needed more houses to be built, Ali said: “The government’s own figures show that house building is falling while homelessness and rough sleeping are both rising.
“The prime minister’s answer shows how out of touch he is with the reality facing vulnerable families in boroughs such as Tower Hamlets. His reckless policies are making things even worse as they force cash-strapped local authorities to cope with increased homelessness.”
Now Ali will be tasked with leading efforts to prevent homelessness.
The most recent London rough sleeping statistics show 147 people were sleeping rough in Tower Hamlets between April and June this year while 498 people were counted across 2023-24.
Meanwhile, government statutory homelessness statistics show 2,972 households in Tower Hamlets were living in temporary accommodation between January and March this year while 873 households asked the local authority with support for homelessness.
What is Rushanara Ali’s background?
Rushanara Ali became the first British Bangladeshi MP when she was elected to parliament in 2010, replacing George Galloway in the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency.
She retained her seat in the general election in July for the newly created Bethnal Green and Stepney constituency but saw her major slashed from 37,524 in 2019 to just 1,689.
Ali faced anger in Bethnal Green back in November 2023 over her decision not to vote on a ceasefire in Gaza in line with Labour. The issue saw independent Ajmal Masroor make inroads into her majority in the 2024 general election
Ali emigrated to the East End of London at the age of seven and grew up in her constituency, attending Mulberry School and Tower Hamlets College.
She has co-founded One Million Mentors, an online platform to recruit, train and deploy mentors for young people, and the Social Innovation Exchange, which connects innovators and social entrepreneurs to tackle major social issues.
Rushanara also co-founded the Social Innovation Exchange social which works to connect innovators and social entrepreneurs around the world to collaborate to tackle major social problems.
She has previously worked at the Home Office, the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank and the Young Foundation.
Before taking on the homelessness brief, Ali has been shadow business and trade minister, shadow education minister and shadow minister for international development.
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