Khalid Mahmood (born 13 July 1961) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Perry Barr from 2001 until 2024 when he lost his seat.
He served on the Labour frontbench as a shadow Foreign Office minister under Jeremy Corbyn, and as a shadow Defence minister under Keir Starmer until his resignation in 2021.
Khalid Mahmood was born on 13 July 1961 in Lahore, Punjab. His family moved to Birmingham, England when he was two years old. He studied at UCE Birmingham.
Mahmood is a former engineer with a trade union background. He was a Birmingham City Councillor from 1990 to 1993.
Mahmood was elected as MP for Birmingham Perry Barr at the 2001 general election with 46.5% of the vote and a majority of 8,753.
In November 2001, an article supportive of the war in Afghanistan was published in The Observer under Mahmood's name, headlined "The Five Myths Muslims Must Deny". A few days later, it was reported that the article had not been written by Mahmood, but by fellow Labour MP Denis MacShane. Mahmood allegedly agreed to put his name to the article after Lord Ahmed of Rotherham refused.
Mahmood did not vote in the 18 March 2003 House of Commons debate on military action against Iraq. In June 2007, he opposed calls for an Iraq inquiry at that time.
He was re-elected as MP for Birmingham Perry Barr at the 2005 general election with an increased vote share of 47% and a decreased majority of 7,948. In November 2005 he was appointed as parliamentary private secretary to Tony McNulty, then a minister in the Home Office. Mahmood resigned as PPS in September 2006 along with several colleagues after signing a letter calling for Tony Blair to resign as prime minister.
In May 2009, it was reported, as part of a series of leaked UK MPs expense details, that Mahmood claimed for £1,350 to stay in a west London hotel with his girlfriend. He also claimed more than £35,000 in expenses for food over eight years.
At the 2010 general election, Mahmood was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 50.3% and an increased majority of 11,908.
Mahmood opposed the decision by Birmingham Metropolitan College in September 2013 to ban students wearing veils.
In January 2015, he was nominated for the Politician of the Year award at the British Muslim Awards.
At the 2015 general election, Mahmood was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 57.4% and an increased majority of 14,828.
He initially supported Brexit in the 2016 European Union membership referendum, but left the Vote Leave campaign over its rhetoric on immigration.
At the snap 2017 general election, Mahmood was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 68.1% and an increased majority of 18,383.
In May 2019, it was reported by the Birmingham Mail that Mahmood was the most expensive Birmingham MP in 2018, claiming £210,183 in expenses.
At the snap 2019 general election, Mahmood was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 63.1% and a decreased majority of 15,317.
In December 2019 he announced that he would stand in the 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election, but pulled out of the contest in January 2020.