Tulip’s pol career under threat

Staff Reporter :

After her sentence, UK Labour Party MP Tulip Siddiq, who is the niece of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is now under threat for political career.

Siddiq, who represents Hampstead and Highgate and is the niece of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was convicted in absentia on Monday.

Dhaka’s Special Judge Court-4, presided over by Judge Md Rabiul Alam, delivered the verdict in a corruption case tied to alleged misuse of authority in the Purbachal New Town land-allocation project.

The Anti-Corruption Commission had accused Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana and Rehana’s daughter Tulip Siddiq of abusing state power to secure land plots.

The court sentenced Sheikh Hasina to five years, Sheikh Rehana to seven years and Siddiq to two years. Siddiq was also fined one lakh taka, with a six-month default sentence if unpaid, while Rehana received the same fine.

Meanwhile, Tulip immediately rejected the ruling from London, calling the judgement ‘flawed, farcical and undeserving of credibility.’

The case has ignited fierce debate across Bangladesh, with citizens legal experts and political commentators sharply divided over whether the ruling represents a tough stance against corruption or a politically charged decision lacking due process.
“I’m absolutely baffled by the whole thing – I’ve still had no contact whatsoever from the Bangladeshi authorities despite them spreading malicious allegations about me for a year-and-a-half now,” she said.
“There’s been absolutely no summons sent to me, there’s no charge sheet, I’ve had no correspondence from them – I’m not difficult to find, I’m a parliamentarian.”
She said she had engaged lawyers in the UK and Bangladesh. “I feel like I’m in some sort of Kafkaesque nightmare,” she added.
“The only reason I know I’m being convicted is because I read it in the newspapers. So this is trial by media, which is deeply unfair.”
The judgment stated that Siddiq used her political influence during her aunt’s tenure to obtain plots for her mother, brother and sister, and that the charges were proven.
The ruling has sparked questions over Siddiq’s future in the British Parliament. She has already been under political pressure this year.
In January she resigned as City Minister after controversy and an internal investigation that raised allegations of financial impropriety.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer had appointed her as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister shortly after Labour’s election win, but the situation became untenable for her within months.
This latest verdict adds to earlier scrutiny surrounding her. A separate investigation had previously looked into claims that she was involved in the alleged embezzlement of £4 billion from the Rooppur Nuclear Power Project.
She also faced criticism over accusations that she failed to disclose the source of funding for her London flat. She denied these allegations but the political fallout proved significant.
Despite the turbulence, Siddiq still holds her seat as MP for Hampstead and Highgate, which she has won four times in a row since first entering Parliament in 2015.
Her continued position in Westminster is one reason British media have gone heavy on this story, treating it not just as a foreign political scandal but as a matter with real implications for UK politics.
British media have splashed the news that UK Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has been sentenced to two years in prison by a Dhaka court, treating it as a major international and political story.
Nearly every leading London-based outlet pushed the development prominently, reflecting both the political sensitivity in Bangladesh and Siddiq’s standing in the UK.
The Guardian highlighted the case with two detailed reports, one announcing the verdict and another analysing what led to Siddiq being tried in absentia.
The Financial Times described her as a former UK minister who has now received a two-year sentence in Bangladesh. Sky News focused on the corruption trial element and her status as a Labour MP.
The Telegraph framed it directly as Siddiq being jailed for corruption in Bangladesh, while The Independent offered a similar angle, emphasising the sentencing. MyLondon reported that a London MP had been handed a jail term following a trial held in her absence.
LBC and Metro both stressed that a sitting Labour MP had been sent to prison in a corruption case abroad. ITV News covered the story as Siddiq being given a jail sentence after a corruption trial in Bangladesh.
The Sun, known for its tabloid style, framed it more dramatically, noting that the verdict came only weeks after her aunt was sentenced to death. The Daily Star (UK) focused on the scale of the scandal and the political ramifications.
For Tulip Siddiq, it marks a new and far more damaging chapter in the string of controversies that have followed her, leaving her political future in Westminster uncertain and increasingly fragile.