Why I'll be speaking up for Sheffield

SHE claims Sheffield is being forgotten by a "complacent" government and that Labour is ignoring one of its traditional heartlands.

She has slammed Gordon Brown's response to the South Yorkshire floods and says Sheffield does not have the thriving economy it deserves.

And she has pledged to ensure the city's "voice is heard" in Whitehall.

Meet 36-year-old mother-of-one Sayeeda Warsi, the new shadow minister for Sheffield.

The former solicitor, who also has the job of shadow minister for community cohesion, replaces North East Hertfordshire MP Oliver Heald who was sacked by David Cameron.

Mr Heald famously declined to answer an easy quiz about the city, whose fortunes he was tasked with promoting, but Ms Warsi had no such qualms when she spoke to The Star.

In fact it was Ms Warsi who, along with shadow cabinet office minister chairman Francis Maude, first presented the idea to David Cameron that major cities like Sheffield should have their own shadow ministers.

And, like Mr Heald before her, she will report back on the city to the Tory leader every two weeks to inform future Conservative policies.

She told The Star: "We fundamentally felt that cities which currently maybe did not have a Conservative MP should have somebody who listens to that city and makes sure we are being heard in that city too."

She said she wants to open a genuine "two-way dialogue" with Sheffield.

"It is the fourth largest city in the country and yet it is not a regional economy in the way that it should be," she said. "It is very much at a crossroads at where its identity is.

"There has been a phenomenal amount of progress in terms of the city centre but there are still issues - the recent issues we saw in terms of the flooding," she said.

She believes new Prime Minister Gordon Brown's response to the South Yorkshire floods was lamentable.

She said: "It is absolutely appalling for the number of seats they hold in those areas that it took Brown two weeks to get there.

"This was the sad fact, he was too busy taking the glory of the fact he has finally made it to leader and trying to convince the national media he had changed.

"In many ways there are parts of the North that have been forgotten, despite having Labour representation.

"I don't think the Labour government has included the North in a lot of what it has done.

"I am going to start off by going to see the people on the ground, starting to engage with local organisations, local faith communities, local media."

Ms Warsi is the first Muslim to be appointed to the shadow cabinet or cabinet and, when she takes her seat in the Lords in the Autumn, she will be the youngest non-hereditary peer.

The eldest of five sisters, Ms Warsi says her admiration for Conservative principles is inspired by the example of her father, who made his way from working in a mill to running a 2 million-a-year bed-manufacturing firm.

She is fluent in Punjabi, Urdu and Gujarati and has worked with Pakistan's Ministry of Law on a project to fight forced marriage.

Ms Warsi is from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, and was defeated as the Tory candidate in Dewsbury at the 2005 election but then became a special adviser on community relations to former Tory leader Michael Howard and was made a vice-chairman of the party.

She is not a politician to mince her words and describes herself as a "working class, Northern mum".

Whether it is explaining her disapproval of the teaching of sex education in state schools or stating her views on the Iraq war, she neither pulls her punches nor appears to worry about toeing the "Tory party line".

And she is quite clear that, in her opinion, it is the job of parents - not teachers - to impart knowledge about the facts of life.

"I do not feel that my daughter, at the age of six or seven or eight, should be taught what the state believes that child needs to be taught.

"I can remember back to when we were taught sex education in schools - it was horrible. I don't think I learnt a thing. You came away from it thinking that was such a cringingly embarrassing experience. I wish I hadn't been put through it."

Ms Warsi's ideas already have an impressive hit-rate.

She has been recommending for years that terrorists should be referred to as criminals and murderers rather than Islamic - and was heartened to see new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith start to do exactly that only days into the Brown government.

But is there a risk her more contentious views will overshadow future successes? She certainly does not think so.

"You don't have to be off party line if you are making party line," she said.

Question Time

SHEFFIELD'S former shadow minister Oliver Heald refused to take part in a simple quiz about the city set by The Star.

But his successor, Sayeeda Warsi, has taken up the challenge, scoring a respectable five out of ten.

Q1. Which political party is in control of Sheffield Council?

Sayeeda Warsi: "Isn't it joined between the Labour party and the Lib Dems?

Answer: Labour

Q2. Name the city's two football teams

SW: "Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United."

Answer: Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United

Q3. Name one former or current Government minister from the city?

SW: "David Blunkett. The man. He actually said some really nice stuff about me. He said met this formidable young Asian woman and he agreed with my views."

Answer could be any one of former Home Secretary David Blunkett, former sports minister Richard Caborn, or equality minister Meg Munn.

Q4. Which of these was filmed in Sheffield - The Full Monty, Brassed Off or Billy Elliot?

SW: "Brassed off was further north, it was the Full Monty."

Answer: The Full Monty

Q5. What sport do the Sheffield Steelers play?

SW: "Is it rugby?"

Answer: Ice Hockey

Q6. What sport is the Crucible Theatre most famous for?

SW: "Snooker."

Answer: Snooker

Q7. What would you mainly do at Ponds Forge?

SW: "There's a museum which is science, technology museum and then the other thing, is it something to do with pottery?"

Answer: Swim

Q8. Sheffield was world-famous for manufacturing what?

SW: "Steel and cutlery. I know loads of people who worked in the steel industry."

Answer: Steel or cutlery

Q9. How many people live in Sheffield?

SW: "I'm not going to guess because I'll get it wrong."

Answer: 500,000

Q10. What would you do at Orchard Square and Crystal Peaks?

SW: "Skiing."

Answer: Shopping