Reinventing herself again,Tasmina, the lawyer turned MP who fell from grace
SHE has had an extremely colourful and varied career.
But after a stint in politics – for the Tories, Labour and the SNP – and a stretch as a lawyer, which ended in a misconduct hearing, it seems that Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh is undergoing yet another reinvention.
For the former MP has now produced a film, SACCH, in which she also stars.
The movie is the first Pakistani film to be shot in Scotland and marks the first time the Pakistani, Bollywood and British film industries have come together to produce an international film.
Instead of canvassing in this month’s General Election – havfully ing lost her Ochil and South Perthshire seat in 2017 – Mrs Ahmed-Sheikh, 49, has been preparing for the film’s opening next month.
After her law firm collapsed in June 2017 she went into business with her director husband Zulfikar Sheikh. He also appears in the film along with their daughter Elysee, 23, who takes the lead role.
A spokesman said: ‘Tasmina worked with the Glasgow and Edinburgh Film Offices throughout the production to ensure the culture and landscape of Scotland was beauticaptured. Tasmina was keen to spotlight how Scotland presents a unique melting pot of cultures, reflecting her own values of community, respect and dignity.’
The film features several landmarks – such as Glasgow City Chambers, Pollok Country Park and Glasgow’s Botanic
Gardens – and is about two men from different backgrounds who fall for the same girl.
Mrs Ahmed-Sheikh started acting when she left law school, with parts in dramas and a turn as a model. It was a short-lived move and she decided to focus on her legal career and family. She resigned from law firm
Hamilton-Burns, where she was a partner, in May 2015 after misconduct concerns were raised. In January this year she was found guilty of professional misconduct by the Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal and fined £3,000.
It ruled she and former colleague Niall Mickel had shown ‘disregard for the rules’ in running a trust and a conflict of interest when they borrowed money from it.
They were ordered to pay the expenses of the Law Society of Scotland, which brought the case forward. Mrs AhmedSheikh lost a bid to overturn the decision on the expenses.
Before she became the Nationalist MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, she stood for the Conservatives in 1999 but failed to be elected – and briefly joined Labour that same year.
‘Reflecting her own values’