Salma Shah | |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s) | commentator, special adviser |
Ommasalma Shah (born July 1984) is a British political commentator and consultant known professionally as Salma Shah. She briefly acted as special adviser to former Tory Home Secretary Sajid Javid [1] [2] [3]
She has been a director of Kraken Strategy Limited since 2019, and is a Policy Fellow alumnus of Centre for Science and Policy. [2] [3]
Shah was born in July 1984 in the United Kingdom to immigrant parents from Pakistan. [4] [3]
Shah has worked as a journalist for The Independent and, from 2014, at the BBC helping to produce Today programme on Radio 4. [5] Shah worked as a special adviser in the Conservative government, specialising in public policy. [6] [7] She held an important role as an adviser to Sajid Javid when he was in office as Home Secretary. [8] She has also advised at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. [9] [10]
She departed from government in 2019, when Boris Johnson became Prime Minister. [11]
She then worked in the private sector for Portland Communications. [12] In 2022, she joined Mitie as a non-executive director and as a prominent political commentator in the media, [13] she has also been a commentator on police reform and English devolution. [14] [15] Shah has been awarded for her role as a company board director [16] She is a fellow of the Centre for Science and Policy. [17]
Shah is a regular panellist on shows including Sophy Ridge on Sunday [18] Good Morning Britain, [19] Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg and BBC Politics Live. [20] She appeared on Have I Got News for You on 10 October 2025. [21]
Her husband Andrew Smith served as lord mayor of Westminster from 2021 to 2022 [22]