Sayeeda Warsi Tipped for Labour’s ‘Anti-Muslim Hostility’ Tsar as Free Speech Fears Grow

News | By Matt, Editor

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi is the frontrunner to become the Labour government’s first “special representative” on anti-Muslim hostility, according to The Spectator. Andrew Gilligan wrote on Wednesday: “My informants say Warsi is seen as the frontrunner, though no one would say that she has got the job, and it might go to someone not named above at all.” (The Spectator, 28 October 2026)

Nothing has been confirmed. As of Thursday afternoon, 29 October, BBN has found no announcement naming anyone. Angela Rayner told Muslim leaders at a meeting with Andy Burnham in Downing Street this week that the appointment would be announced in the coming days. (Muslim News; The National)

Key facts

• The role: a special representative to “champion efforts across the UK to tackle hostility and hatred directed at Muslims”, who will also “lead on work to facilitate understanding and implementation of the definition of anti-Muslim hostility across various sectors and contexts”. (Protecting What Matters, GOV.UK)
• The definition: adopted in March 2026. It is non-statutory and, the government says, does not change the law. (GOV.UK)
• The claim: Warsi is the frontrunner, according to Gilligan’s informants. The Telegraph also called her “a front-runner” in June. (The Spectator; The Telegraph, 19 June 2026)
• Not confirmed: BBN found no announcement of an appointment when it checked at 14:10 UK time on 29 October.
• Warsi’s reply: she called Gilligan “obsessed” and “bigoted”. (@SayeedaWarsi on X)

What the definition actually says

The government published the definition on 9 March 2026 as part of its social cohesion plan, “Protecting What Matters”. It came from a working group chaired by former Conservative attorney general Dominic Grieve, set up in February 2025 under Ms Rayner. (BBC; GOV.UK) It has three parts. Anti-Muslim hostility is:

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• “intentionally engaging in, assisting or encouraging criminal acts… that are directed at Muslims because of their religion or at those who are perceived to be Muslim”;
• “the prejudicial stereotyping of Muslims… treating them as a collective group defined by fixed and negative characteristics, with the intention of encouraging hatred against them”; and
• “engaging in unlawful discrimination where the relevant conduct – including the creation or use of practices and biases within institutions – is intended to disadvantage Muslims in public and economic life.”

The guidance says the definition “focuses on Muslims as individuals rather than Islam as a religion”. The government says it “will refer to it when developing and revising relevant policy” and adds: “We encourage relevant organisations, employers and sectors to do the same.” (GOV.UK)

Ministers insist free speech is safe. Steve Reed, then Communities Secretary, said it “in no way restricts people’s freedom and people’s rights to criticise religion”. (BBC) In the Lords, minister Baroness Taylor said: “There are no blasphemy laws in England, and the Government have no plans to introduce any.” (Hansard, 12 March 2026) The Equality and Human Rights Commission had warned in 2025 that a new definition risked a “chilling effect” on free expression. (BBC) BBN has reported on Labour’s dealings with the EHRC and on the evidence behind the definition.

What the law already protects

Religion or belief is already one of nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. That protection covers people of every faith, and of none. (Equality Act, s4; s10) Stirring up religious hatred is already a crime under Part 3A of the Public Order Act 1986, added by the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006. (Public Order Act, Part 3A; RRHA 2006)

That law has a free speech safeguard. Section 29J says nothing in it may restrict “discussion, criticism or expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule, insult or abuse of particular religions or the beliefs or practices of their adherents”. (Public Order Act, s29J)

Warsi’s record: what she has said

BBN checked the main quotes in Gilligan’s piece against original sources where it could.

• Braverman and grooming gangs (April 2023): Warsi said Suella Braverman’s “racist rhetoric” was putting British Asian families at risk. She said Braverman had “basically said group sexual exploitation is a British Pakistani problem”. Braverman’s office said she “will not shy away from hard truths”. (BBC, 13 April 2023; The Guardian)
• Hay Festival (May 2025): “Are we going to be like those Jewish families in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s… Should we be doing what everybody else around us seems to be doing right now, which is putting in place plan Bs and exit routes?” (The Independent, 29 May 2025)
• Prevent (2017): “I think Prevent, as a brand, is broken. I think it’s toxic.” She also said: “The way we’re starting to operate now with the Muslims is McCarthyistic.” (Middle East Eye, reporting The Sunday Times, March 2017)
• Her 2024 book, Muslims Don’t Matter: “I’m done playing by the rules set by the racist.” (The Telegraph review) Gilligan also quotes her as writing that “Islamist” is “often a fig leaf used by Islamophobes to disguise their bigotry”. BBN has not checked that line against the book.
• Gaza video (October 2024): she posted: “Never Again – we said! Never Again say Never Again if you did nothing to stop the carnage and bloodshed.” (@SayeedaWarsi on X)

Warsi sat on the panel of the 2018 report by the all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims, “Islamophobia Defined”. She now co-chairs the group. (Register of All-Party Groups) The report quoted a call for a definition to capture “low-level hatred and negative attitudes that would not be classed as crimes by police”. It also proposed tests for whether speech is “reasonable criticism or Islamophobia masquerading as ‘legitimate criticism’”. (APPG report, 2018)

The same report also said: “No open society can place religion above criticism.” The government did not adopt the APPG definition. Its own version is narrower and requires intent. Pragna Patel of Southall Black Sisters has written that she faced “intense hostility” and “adversarial cross-examination” when she gave evidence to the inquiry in 2018. (Feminist Dissent, 2022)

What Warsi says

Warsi welcomed the definition in March. She told the BBC: “If there ever was a need for us to start tackling anti-Muslim racism, anti-Muslim hatred seriously then this is the time.” (BBC) At Hay she argued that hostility to Muslims is driven by “people in power and people with big platforms”. (The Independent)

She responded to Gilligan on X on Wednesday night: “Me thinks Andrew is obsessed – I clearly live rent free in his bigoted head.” On Thursday morning she added: “no amount of BS and name calling is going to deter me.” (@SayeedaWarsi, 28 Oct; 29 Oct) She has not said publicly whether she has been offered the role.

Others are said to be in the running. Gilligan names, among others, Mr Grieve, Labour MP Afzal Khan and Qari Asim, who was removed as a government adviser in 2022. (The Spectator) In June, a Communities Department spokesman told The Telegraph that “no decisions have been made”. (The Telegraph)

Our view

This section is opinion.

British Muslims are entitled to exactly the same protection as every other citizen: no less, and no more. The law already gives them that. Religion is a protected characteristic for everyone. Attacking, threatening or stirring up hatred against people because of their faith is already a crime. Parliament wrote free speech into that law on purpose.

What Labour has added is something different: a bespoke definition for one faith, which employers and institutions are “encouraged” to use, and now a state-funded champion to roll it out “across various sectors”. That is not a blasphemy law, and ministers are right to say so. But soft rules can still chill speech. A council officer, a teacher or a broadcaster asking hard questions about Islamist extremism, or about the grooming gangs scandal, should not have to wonder whether a Whitehall-backed definition makes them a problem.

That is why the choice of person matters. Baroness Warsi is free to hold her views, and to defend them. But she called Suella Braverman’s words on grooming gangs “racist rhetoric”, and she helped shape a report that would have reached “negative attitudes” that are not crimes. That is a poor fit for a role that ministers promise will protect free debate. After Mr Burnham’s remarks to Muslim leaders this week and the police complaints against Robert Jenrick, voters can be forgiven for wondering where this leads. One law for everyone is fairer, and simpler, than a tsar for one faith.

FAQ

Has Sayeeda Warsi been appointed?

No. As of 29 October 2026 no appointment has been announced. The Spectator reports that its informants see her as the frontrunner, and says no one would confirm she has the job.

Does the definition change the law?

No. The government says it is non-statutory and does not change what is or is not a crime. (GOV.UK; Hansard)

Are Muslims already protected by law?

Yes, in the same way as people of any faith or none. Religion or belief is protected under the Equality Act 2010, and stirring up religious hatred is an offence under the Public Order Act 1986.

Sources

• The Spectator: Sayeeda Warsi would make a terrible Islamophobia tsar (Andrew Gilligan, 28 Oct 2026); Gilligan on X
• The Telegraph: Peer who called Tories racist is front-runner (19 June 2026); review of Muslims Don’t Matter
• Muslim News: adviser to be named this week; The National: Burnham promises adviser (28 Oct); Free Speech Union: Downing Street meeting (28 Oct)
• GOV.UK: A definition of anti-muslim hostility; Protecting What Matters; Working group; Hansard: Lords, 12 March 2026
• BBC: Reed on the definition (9 Mar 2026); Warsi on Braverman (13 Apr 2023); The Guardian: 12 Apr 2023; The Independent: Hay Festival (29 May 2025); Middle East Eye: Prevent (19 Mar 2017)
• APPG on British Muslims: Islamophobia Defined (2018); Register; Feminist Dissent: Pragna Patel (2022)
• Legislation: Equality Act 2010 s4, s10; Public Order Act 1986 Part 3A, s29J; Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006
• X: @SayeedaWarsi (28 Oct); (29 Oct); (13 Oct 2024)
• Main image: Official portrait of Baroness Warsi, 2018. Photo: Chris McAndrew / UK Parliament, licensed under CC BY 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0). Cropped.