Munira Mirza

Boris Johnson says she’s a ‘brilliant thinker’ 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 “culture of grievance”. 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’s most influential advisers.