Sajid Javid beats Malala Yousafzai and Zayn Malik to the top of Asian power list
The Culture Secretary replaced last year’s winner, Yousafzai, on the chart
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Your support makes all the difference.They make for an unlikely dinner party, but Sajid Javid, Malala Yousafzai and Zayn Malik have been listed among the UK’s most powerful Asians.
Culture secretary Havid topped the GG2 Power List 101, compiled by the Asian Media and Marketing Group, after judges declared he had “opened the cultural doors for all Britons in the UK”. David Cameron, who was present at the awards ceremony, said he was “extremely proud” of Javid and said he hoped Britain would have an Asian Prime Minister in the future.
“Let us think big about what Britons of all backgrounds can achieve,” said Cameron.
“When I hear 'sir', 'your honour' or 'right honourable', I want them to be followed by a British Asian name. One day I want to hear that title 'Prime Minister' followed by a British Asian name.”
Javid pushed Malala Yousafzai to second place after she came first on the list last year. The activist was named the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize this year, aged 17.
“Culture is more than a privilege,” said Javid. “It's at the core of who we are and how we define ourselves.
“If you're not engaged with our cultural life, you're not engaged with our national life. And in 2014, too many Britons are culturally disenfranchised.”
Labour MP and Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee Keith Vaz came third – the government’s the longest-serving Asian MP.
One Direction’s Zayn Malik ranked in tenth position.
Independent editor Amol Rajan won the GG2 Hammer Award for becoming the first Asian editor of a national newspaper.
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