Munira Mirza

Published: June 27, 2020, 6:15 p.m.

Boris Johnson says she\u2019s a \u2018brilliant thinker\u2019 who inspires him. Now he has chosen Munira Mirza, the head of the No 10 policy unit, as the person to establish a new government commission on racial inequalities. Her appointment has proved controversial. Mirza has questioned the existence of institutional racism and criticised previous inquiries for fostering a \u201cculture of grievance\u201d. Her critics say her mind is already made up on the issues the commission will seek to investigate. Last weekend, Black Lives Matter demonstrators in London demanded her resignation. Mirza was raised in Oldham, became a supporter of the Revolutionary Communist Party as a student at Oxford, and eventually went to work for Boris Johnson after he was elected Mayor of London. Mark Coles profiles one of the government\u2019s most influential advisers.