A New Statesman ‘most anticipated title of the year’ ‘Compelling.’ David Lammy MP ‘Refreshing,’ Pragya Agarwal A powerful intervention roundly debunking the myth of progress in racial equality — particularly in the workplace — and offering a blueprint for the future. Have you ever wondered why, as Britain becomes more diverse, so many of our leaders come from the same narrow pool? Can it be acceptable in 2023 that there are no ethnic minority chief constables, only one CEO in the top 50 NHS Trusts and no permanent secretaries in the civil service? Nazir Afzal knows what it’s like to break the glass ceiling, challenge prejudice and shake up predominantly white institutions. Born in Birmingham to first generation Pakistani immigrants, he was the first Muslim to be appointed as a Chief Crown Prosecutor and the most senior Muslim lawyer in the Crown Prosecution Service. His insights into the UK’s relationship with race and power have driven him to demand answers to an age old question around Britain’s diversity failings: why does ethnic minority talent continue to be side-lined? Deploying bristling polemic and presenting an ambitious blueprint to unlock Britain’s hidden potential, this book hears from high-profile ethnic minority leaders to discover the hurdles they had to overcome and what changes are needed to make a difference. Containing interviews with leaders across all sectors, Nazir provides the most detailed examination to date of the prejudice holding our leading institutions and industries back. In doing so it forcefully confronts stale leadership orthodoxies and argues that power in Britain does not have to look exactly the same as it always has done. It’s time to welcome the new wave of diverse leadership talent that Britain is crying out for

A New Statesman 'most anticipated title of the year' 2022 'Compelling.' David Lammy MP A powerful intervention roundly debunking the myth of progress in racial equality - particularly in the workplace - and offering a blueprint for the future. Have you ever wondered why, as Britain becomes more diverse, so many of our leaders come from the same narrow pool? Can it be acceptable in 2022 that there are no ethnic minority chief constables, no CEOs in the top 50 NHS Trusts and no permanent secretaries in the civil service? Nazir Afzal knows what it's like to break the glass ceiling, challenge prejudice and shake up predominantly white institutions. Born in Birmingham to first generation Pakistani immigrants, he was the first Muslim to be appointed as a Chief Crown Prosecutor and the most senior Muslim lawyer in the Crown Prosecution Service. His insights into the UK's relationship with race and power have driven him to demand answers to an age old question around Britain's diversity failings: why does ethnic minority talent continue to be side-lined? Deploying bristling polemic and presenting an ambitious blueprint to unlock Britain's hidden potential, this book hears from high-profile ethnic minority leaders to discover the hurdles they had to overcome and what changes are needed to make a difference. Containing interviews with leaders across all sectors, Nazir provides the most detailed examination to date of the prejudice holding our leading institutions and industries back. In doing so it forcefully confronts stale leadership orthodoxies and argues that power in Britain does not have to look exactly the same as it always has done. It's time to welcome the new wave of diverse leadership talent that Britain is crying out for

The outsider who transformed our justice system Nazir Afzal knows a thing or two about justice. As a Chief Prosecutor, it was his job to make sure the most complex, violent and harrowing crimes made it to court, and that their perpetrators were convicted. From the Rochdale sex ring to the earliest prosecutions for honour killing and modern slavery, Nazir was at the forefront of the British legal system for decades. But his story begins in Birmingham, in the sixties, as a young boy facing racist violence and the tragic death of a young family member - and it's this that sets him on the path to his groundbreaking career, and which enables him to help communities that the conventional justice system ignores, giving a voice to the voiceless. A memoir of struggle and survival as well as crime and punishment, The Prosecutor is both a searing insight into the justice system and a powerful story of one man's pursuit of the truth.