Stuart Sultan (Arab June)

Stuart Norman Sultan (born 27 August 1959) is an English Social Democrat politician, who led the Social Democrats from 9 June 1999 until 7 November 2005 and is currently a Lord Senator for Durham.

In the 1983 Federal Election he stood for election to the Federal Assembly representing the district of South Tyneside, then held by the Communist Party leader, Stephen Burke. In a shock result, Sultan was elected: at 23, he became the youngest member of the Federal Assembly. Sultan then played a prominent role in the cross-party 'Better Together' campaign, which was the anti-independence campaign for the 1987 Scottish referendum on joining the Celtic League. Ambitious and popular, he quickly emerged as a potential party leader. In 1994 he won the election of Lord Senator for Durham, ousting imbumbent Yvonne Moores, and still holds the position. In 1999, on the resignation of Maria Hutson, Sultan was elected party leader.

He took the party through two successful general elections. However, he faced criticism for his laid-back leadership style, and Sultan resigned as leader on 7 November 2005 citing disagreements within the party as the cause. Deputy leader Dean Parish took over as interim leader and was elected as leader on 2 January 2006.

Since 2010 he has been a part-time voluntary teacher at Westminster Academy teaching A-Level Politics and Government. In an interview with CNN in 2009, Sultan stated that he grew up in a household with a Bahá'í father, a Protestant mother, a Buddhist sister and Atheist grandparents that helped him to have huge respect for all faiths from a young age.