A new political star has emerged from this week’s Budget drama and it isn’t the Chancellor.
Nusrat Ghani, the recently elected Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, has captured public attention with her razor-sharp interventions, steely authority and unexpectedly colourful checkered tie.
Ghani, known to many in Westminster simply as Nus, chaired the Budget with a confidence that stunned even seasoned observers. Before the Chancellor could utter a word, she opened proceedings with a rebuke over the string of Budget leaks, calling them “disappointing” and beneath the standards expected of Parliament. “Like many, I expected better,” she said.
Her quick put-downs and refusal to indulge rowdy MPs quickly made her the moment’s breakout figure. “I don’t need any help,” she snapped at one heckler. And when Conservative MP Dr Luke Evans pushed his luck, she cut him off with: “Order- far too much noise. I expected so much better from you… You’re meant to be a leader in your community.”
Clips of her interventions spread quickly online, earning her praise across the political spectrum.
Ghani, 53, is no newcomer to Parliament. The Conservative MP for Wealden since 2015, she has carved out a reputation for diligence, independence and an uncompromising stance. Her ministerial career has spanned the Foreign Office, Cabinet Office, the Transport Department and the Department for Business and Trade. In 2018, she made history as the first female Muslim minister to speak from the Dispatch Box.
In July 2024, Ghani took up her most significant role yet: Chairman of Ways and Means and Deputy Speaker, making her the first ethnic minority MP ever to preside in the Commons Chair. Her responsibilities range from chairing Committees of the Whole House to managing Westminster Hall sittings and overseeing Private Bills, tasks she has approached with the same trademark clarity and discipline seen on Budget day.
Born in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and raised in Birmingham, Ghani’s rise is the story of grit meeting opportunity. Educated at Bordesley Green Girls’ School, she went on to study government and politics at Birmingham City University, followed by a master’s in international relations at the University of Leeds.
This week, though, it wasn’t her résumé that turned heads, it was her presence. With one Budget sitting, Nusrat Ghani didn’t just keep the Commons in line; she announced herself as one of Westminster’s most compelling new power players.
