Tory Senedd member Mohammad Asghar has died

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Tory Senedd member Mohammad Asghar has died

Picture caption Mohammad Asghar was first


Mohammad Asghar

Picture caption

Mohammad Asghar was first elected to the Senedd in 2007

The Conservative Senedd member for South Wales East, Mohammad Asghar, has died on the age of 74 after being taken to hospital.

The Welsh Ambulance Service stated it had obtained “studies of a medical emergency” on Tuesday morning.

Mr Asghar, referred to as Oscar in Cardiff Bay, represented the area for 13 years.

Welsh Conservative Senedd group chief Paul Davies known as it a “devastating blow”.

“Our good friend and colleague Mohammad Asghar has served the folks of South Wales East within the Senedd with distinction for greater than 13 years,” he stated.

“I’m positive that everybody will be part of me in sending condolences to his household.”

Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford stated he was “saddened to listen to” of his demise.

“My ideas are together with his household and buddies at present,” he stated.

“His presence within the Senedd shall be missed.”

Following his election as a Plaid Cymru meeting member in 2007, he grew to become each the primary Muslim AM and the primary from an ethnic minority background.

Picture copyright
PA

Picture caption

Mohammad Asghar with then-Tory group chief Nick Bourne, after saying his 2009 defection from Plaid Cymru

Two years later, in December 2009, he was additionally the primary member in Cardiff Bay to depart one social gathering for an additional when he joined the Tories.

The transfer was introduced with a flourish by the Conservative group chief then, Nick Bourne, at a unexpectedly organized information convention.

Explaining the shock defection on the time Mr Asghar stated he had “fallen out of tune with the views and insurance policies of Plaid Cymru”.

On the time of his demise Mr Asghar was a member of the Senedd’s Public Accounts Committee, and Economic system, Infrastructure and Abilities Committee.

‘Olympic torch’

Born in Peshawar in what’s now Pakistan in 1945, Mr Asghar moved to England after which Wales to finish an accountancy course in Newport.

In 2004 he was elected to town’s council, changing into Wales’ first Muslim councillor.

A eager sportsman, Mr Asghar ran with the Olympic torch in 1964 and campaigned for Wales to have its personal cricket workforce.

He was a certified pilot and spoke Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi fluently.

Mr Asghar leaves his spouse, Firdaus and daughter, Natasha.



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