Zakir Khan was selected as the Conservative Party candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow on Sunday 7th March 2010 at an Open Primary selection meeting. At a packed meeting he was chosen from a strong and diverse field of candidates.
A personal statement from Zak
"From the age of 7 I have lived in Tower Hamlets where I attended St Peters’ Primary School, Wapping, then Sir John Cass Foundation School, Stepney and finally St Paul’s Way Sixth Form, Bow. From the age of 17 I have been involved in community and youth work. I have and continue to represent the community on various boards and committee’s
Having worked for Canary Wharf Group plc in the Public Affairs Department for the past ten years, I have established and maintained a strong productive network of individuals and organisations both in the statutory and voluntary sectors as well as different faith groups. This has resulted in a supportive and trustworthy relationship with local community individuals and groups and I am positive this support will be extended into my political career.
I have many years experience of delivering front line services and initiating projects that were and are of benefit to local residents and in particular the young people. Throughout my voluntary involvement and paid employment I have worked with people and individuals from local government, central government, MP’s and Metropolitan Police and again have a productive working relationship with those agencies.
I have initiated many ground breaking projects targeted towards the local young people and some engaging the local residents. For instance, having realised that young people have very little to do during the summer holidays, I set up a summer football league, which initially began with just eight teams in 2003 and now has 36 local teams participating each year.
I also created a partnership between Canary Wharf Group plc and the London Muslim Centre to organise and celebrate the Eid festivities which is now an annual event. Another event that I am involved in is the annual Community Christmas Reception. This is held at Canary Wharf and is attended by representatives of local businesses, local community leaders, council members, youth workers, sports clubs, religious leaders, voluntary workers and local pensioners groups.
I believe the above information highlights and clearly demonstrate why I would make a strong candidate for the Conservative Party in Bethnal Green and Bow.''