Salma Yaqoob  Salma Yaqoob (born 15 August 1971) is a British political activist and psychotherapist. She served as leader and vice-chairman of the Respect Party, and represented the party on Birmingham City Council. She led the Birmingham Stop the War Coalition and is a patron of Stop the War Coalition UK. She unsuccessfully stood to be the Labour Party candidate candidate for Mayor of the West Midlands in the 2021 mayoral election, finishing third out of three candidates. She has been a spokesperson for Birmingham Central Mosque. Yaqoob has also contributed to news outlets, including "HuffPost," "The Guardian" and "New Statesman." Yaqoob's parents, Mohammad and Gulzarda Yaqoob, emigrated to the UK from Pakistan in the 1960s, and her father worked in a mill before joining the Royal Mail. Yaqoob was born in Bradford on 15 August 1971: the family later moved to Birmingham, where she was raised. She describes herself as having been a "tomboyish girl" who played football on the streets of Alum Rock. Yaqoob became politically active after the September 11 attacks. She claims to have been spat at on the streets of Birmingham in the days following the attacks. Yaqoob runs a part-time psychotherapy practice. She is employed as a Community Engagement Senior Manager at the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. In April 2014, she was appointed Independent Chair of the Stakeholder Council of Birmingham South Central Clinical Commissioning Group. In the 2005 general election, she stood as the Respect candidate for the Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath constituency against Labour's Roger Godsiff MP, with the backing of the Muslim Association of Britain. She finished in second place, ahead of the Liberal Democrat and Conservative candidates, and with 27.5% of the total vote. Yaqoob was elected with 49.4% of the vote in the Sparkbrook ward of Birmingham City Council in the 2006 local elections. She was re-elected to the post in May 2010. Yaqoob stood in the 2010 general election for the Respect Party in the Birmingham Hall Green constituency, and came second to Roger Godsiff of the Labour Party, trailing by 3,799 votes. Yaqoob gained 13.9% of the vote, chiefly from the Labour incumbent — the Labour candidate lost 11.7% of the total vote, election-to-election. The Green Party had stood down its candidate in favour of Yaqoob after a members' vote.