Shahid's constituency includes the towns of Dewsbury, Mirfield and Heckmondwike, each town with its own separate and strong identity sitting in the very heart of West Yorkshire in the borough of Kirklees.

Shahid Malik is the Member of Parliament for Dewsbury, West Yorkshire and was elected in May 2005. Within a year Shahid was appointed to the influential Home Affairs Select Committee and served as a PPS to Schools Minister Jim Knight.

In 2007 he was appointed Minister for International Development in Gordon Brown's first government. Prior to entering Parliament he sat on Labour's ruling National Executive Committee between 2000-2005.

Shahid Malik was born and raised in Burnley in one of the most deprived areas in Britain, ranked 8th most deprived out of more than 8,000 wards in the country.

Prior to entering Parliament Shahid served as a Commissioner for Northern Ireland, was the country's youngest Chief Executive of a major regeneration agency with a £150m programme, was a member of Gordon Brown's Economic Policy Commission and was Vice-Chair of UNESCO.

After undergoing a period of major growth in the 19th century, Dewsbury went through a period of decline although more recently there has been rapid and ongoing redevelopment of derelict mills into luxury apartments and other projects concerned with regenerating once deprived areas. According to the 2001 census the Dewsbury urban sub-area had a population of 54,341.

In Saxon times, Dewsbury was a centre of considerable importance. The parish of Dewsbury extended east of the Pennines to encompass Huddersfield, Mirfield and Bradford. Ancient legend records that in 627 Paulinus, the first bishop of York, preached in the church situated here. Numerous Saxon graves have been found in Dewsbury and Thornhill.

Today the town is famous for its award winning market which draws coach trips from across the north of England. The town is also home to the Dewsbury Rams Rugby League club who won the championship title in the 1972/73 season when they beat Leeds in the play-off final at Odsal Stadium 22-13. The Rams were also crowned Division Two Champions in 2006.