‘I want to change lives over the next five years’
In the first of five interviews with Glasgow’s new MSPs elected this year, Political Correspondent STEWART PATERSON speaks to Labour MSP Anas Sarwar on his hopes for Holyrood MAY 2016 was a momentous month for the Sarwar household in Glasgow.
In the same week as Anas Sarwar was elected to Holyrood, his wife, Furheen, gave birth to the couple’s third son.
With a larger family the switch to Holyrood is benefiting family life for the 33 year-old who, as well as the new baby, has two boys aged five and seven.
While Westminster took him away from home for long periods, Holyrood is more family friendly.
He said: “The biggest difference is I get to see my kids every day. I cannot begin to describe how significant that is. For me personally as a father but for my children too. I’ve seen the confidence of my eldest, in particular go through the roof just having his father around.”
In his politics “gap year” between losing to Alison Thewliss of the SNP in May 2015 and winning the first seat on the Glasgow list in May this year he has been busy with business, charity work as well as political campaigning.
Associated charity work, in Glasgow, in Pakistan and in Europe has grown to a major operation.
He said: “It’s been busy. I launched a group called Glasgow Cares focussing on partnership programmes and projects between the business community, individuals and existing charities.
“We did an ambulance appeal where we delivered two ambulances to the Greek island of Lesbos. That was a partnership with the Rangers Charity Foundation and the Celtic FC Foundation.”
At home the charity organised a Christmas appeal for local children. He added: “Another project was the toy bank appeal, to guarantee a Christmas for every child in Glasgow kindly supported by the Evening Times. We collected and distributed more than one thousand toys to children across Glasgow.”
But politics is the real passion for someone who took part in major campaigning in his teens and was involved even further back.
He said: “I’m an activist. Politics is a cause for me. It’s not a profession, it’s not a job, politics is fundamentally a cause.
“I’ve been passionate about fighting poverty, fighting inequality and creating opportunity. I’ve been a political activist since I was a young boy whether that’s chapping doors or delivering leaflets, making phone calls, going on aid missions. I visited Palestine on an aid mission as a young boy and in 2007 delivered generators to the Gaza strip.”
Whether it’s Westminster of Holyrood he said the goal is to change people’s lives for the better.
He added: “The real challenge in any parliament is to be a vehicle for change and places where the voiceless get a voice. That’s what I hope to use the next five years for, to benefit Glasgow and Scotland working across party lines.”
Whether it’s at home or in Holyrood the next five years will be busy for Anas Sarwar.
NEXT WEEK: Annie Wells, Conservative MSP.