Career
At the suggestion of his wife and her father,Shamash took up the study of law and qualified as a solicitor in 1976. His early legal career,at PR Kimber,was in criminal and personal-injury law. With Elaine Steel,he founded Steel &Shamash in 1981,based in Waterloo. [4] One of the first firms to be granted a Legal Aid Agency contract, [5] it merged with Edwards Duthie in 2019 to form Edwards Duthie Shamash, [2] and Shamash heads its parliamentary,electoral and media law practice. [6]
Shamash has acted as a solicitor for the Labour Party since 1990, [6] having worked for the party since at least 1983. [2] He advised Labour during the Cash-for-Honours and parliamentary expenses scandals,and acted for public figures affected by the phone-hacking scandal. [4]
In the 1979 general election,Shamash stood unsuccessfully as a Labour Party candidate in the safe Conservative seat of Shoreham. [2] [4] He was subsequently elected a member of Barnet London Borough Council at the 1986 and 1990 council elections,representing the ward of Burnt Oak for two terms. Shamash has served as a magistrate in London since 1985. [4]
Shamash was nominated by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer for a life peerage [5] [7] and was created Baron Shamash,of West Didsbury in the City of Manchester,on 6 March 2024. [1]
On 31 July 2025,he was a leading signatory of a letter from 38 House of Lords members opposing the UK's plan to recognise a State of Palestine:the peers said Palestine “does not meet the international law criteria for recognition of a state,namely,defined territory,a permanent population,an effective government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states”. [8]
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