Today, we’re meeting a woman who doesn’t take no for an answer. This is the story of someone who writes her own narrative, and doesn’t let other people define her.

Everyone deserves to have an equal opportunity when it comes to politics, because ultimately, it should reflect the world that we live in. And if I'm living in this world, and people like me, and from diverse backgrounds are living here, why can't we be represented in politics as well, particularly in Wales.

That’s Natasha Asghar.

I live in Newport in southeast Wales. I’m also a conservative regional member for the Welsh Conservatives here in Wales, in the Welsh parliament.

Natasha was the first woman of colour to be elected into Welsh Parliament. The role didn’t come easy. It was hard work and perseverance that got Natasha to where she is. She says – those are qualities she learned from her dad.

I think that's the one thing I have actually inherited from him, aside from his rugby player nose! When it comes down to determination and getting what I want in life, he always used to say to me, Darling, if you want a Ferrari, you can have a Ferrari, just don't expect me to pay for it for you. If you want one, you go out there, you work hard, you earn it, and you can have one in your own time. There's nothing on this planet that you can't achieve and you can't have if you don't work hard enough for it. And that's something – a mantra that I've always had. And I will always live with til my last breath as well.

Natasha’s dad, Mohammad Asghar …

lovingly, he was known to everyone as Oscar

…he knows a thing or two about determination.

He always believed that everyone in life should have a plan A, plan B, plan C. He was an accountant by profession, but he was also a qualified pilot. And later on in life, he was told by a local councillor: you people will never achieve anything in politics.

That ignorant comment – it just spurred Mohammad on. He became the first person from an ethnic minority background to get elected into Welsh Parliament.

Sadly, he passed away in 2020. But he had a very long standing career for 13 years within the Welsh Parliament, and I must say he, he left a quite a big mark on a lot of people's lives.

Another value that Natasha’s parents instilled in her was the importance of learning.

For them, their belief was that we may not be able to give you five holidays a year and a flashy car on your 18th birthday and have you know, a six bedroom house on your 25th. But what we will do is give you an education and a strong standing so that if ever we're not around, you'll be able to stand on your own two feet and be able to deal with any circumstance life brings your way.

Following her Dad’s advice – Natasha has had a plan A, B and C throughout her career. She initially worked in finance, but the truth was: her heart was elsewhere.

Being in media was a passion of mine, I absolutely loved it. And I wanted the fame and the fortune and everything that came with the job itself.

It was 2010. Natasha had worked for local TV shows and radio stations – but had her sights set on the big time.

For me, the biggest dream, and for anyone in my background was to work for the biggest organisation in the world, the BBC.

Natasha sent out CVs, she went for auditions - but didn’t have much luck. So she decided to do something different.

I actually went online and I paid a company to make these helium balloons with my face on it. And I said, your next big star is the one and only Natasha Asghar. And on the back of it, I had my phone number, my website.

She sent the balloons to the BBC, and before long – they called. And invited her in for an interview.

And I cannot tell you how excited I was, I was buzzing! You may as well have given me a Nobel Peace Prize for having just this phone call and invitation to an interview because I thought: this is it.

Natasha got ready for the interview – new outfit, hair and makeup done - and headed to the old BBC building in west London. She got there really early, and waited in the lobby.

Eventually she was led into a bright, colourful office to meet her interviewer. He was wearing a loud shirt and chinos – it was casual friday.

And we had a really nice chat. It was a really nice, pleasant interview, nothing bad happened. There was no bad conversation. He was asking me what my interests were, what sort of fields I'd like to go to, what sort of show I'd like to host and I obviously said, I would love to host Strictly Come Dancing; that would be the ultimate goal.

But at that point – – the interview took a turn for the worse.

After that he then progressed and said, Natasha, look, you're wonderful. You've got all the qualities that we look for in a presenter, you know, you're charming, you're articulate, you're well spoken, you're well dressed, that I can see. But he said, maybe it might be worthwhile for you to work in some of your own channels. And I looked at him and said, What do you mean? Like people, like you have your own channels.

Natasha froze. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

And when you go into that state of shock, you don't know how to respond. So my face was trying to stay as serious as I possibly could. But inside I was crumbling, thinking to myself, I kind of know where he's going with this. And I'm not liking where it's going. And he said, Well, I know people from your background have channels like ZTV, PTV and these are all ethnic minority channels, which quite a lot of people are aware of. So why don't you try and do something with one of those channels and see how it goes. And maybe then we can perhaps talk about, you know where you're at in life.

Natasha was crushed. Her dream job had closed the door in her face. She walked out of the building in tears, and called her dad.

When I was crying on the phone to my dad, I felt that pit in my stomach. And as I was talking to him, you can just feel the tears running down your face, it's freezing cold. But at the same time, I'm struggling to talk to him. So there was a lump in my throat. And I'm just going “dad…”, you know when you have that heavy panting breathing amidst crying, but trying to get everything out at the same time. That's what was happening to me.

She wasn’t just upset though – Natasha was furious.

He didn't give me a reason. Or he didn't give me anything concrete that I could take away and work on. And that really angered me and enraged me more, because I thought, he's not giving me anything to work with. I can't go away and change myself. He's not saying my presenting is bad. So clearly, there's something else and naturally, for me, it felt incredibly racist.

Up until this point, Natasha hadn’t experienced racism on any level.

I like to consider myself a person of the world who can get on with everyone from any background, regardless of whether you're from an ethnic minority or non ethnic minority background, it's fine with me. And I’m not the type of person who judges people by their skin colour. So for someone to judge me by mine, was just quite patronising, and quite honestly, soul-destroying at the same time. And I wanted to never experience that feeling again.

Natasha refused to let that experience hold her back – and she continued working in TV and radio.

But her dad said something that day on the phone, outside the BBC building – and his words stuck with her.

Darling, I swear to you, get into politics, and you mark my words, the same BBC that said this to you will be begging you for interviews, will be chasing you and will want a piece of you. You mark my words. Please just get into politics and I promise you, you will change the world.

So Natasha decided to give politics a go. But the path hasn’t been straightforward.

Early in her political career, Natasha was running for a European parliamentary seat. She went to an event in North Wales to introduce herself and answer questions.

And I stood at the door and the other candidates were next to me. They were all Caucasian. And they were handing their fliers out to people who were walking through the door. And I remember handing it to a gentleman and his wife. And they literally just put it back in my hand and said, No, thank you.

It was completely aggressive, it was just very much like, don't want to see you, don't want to talk to you, don't want your leaflet, you can just go away and out of my face.

Natasha’s mum was at the event with her. She suggested putting the fliers directly on people’s chairs, instead of handing them out. But even then, she still had people come up to her and give the fliers back.

I think for me, that was the biggest time and the only time I'd felt racism in Wales, in my life. And that was only when I got into politics.

There are times where a person can sense racism, and there are times when you can let it go. This was one of those ones where it was so blatant, you couldn't let it go.

Being treated like that upset Natasha, but again – she was determined not to give up. Natasha lost five elections before finally winning her seat in the Welsh Parliament in 2021.

They say all good things come to those who wait. And honestly, I have waited for a very, very long time for this to come round.

On election day, she was sitting with her mum, nervously waiting for the votes to be counted. Reporters from Sky, ITV and the BBC were there.

And I remember one journalist coming up to me saying, Natasha, are you okay if we mention your dad's name? And I thought, for what? And she said, Well, if you win, and we're going to mention the fact that you know, he's passed away, and you're his daughter, and my mom was sitting next to me, I said, Mom, they're going to make this whole story about dad.

Make no mistake: Natasha and her dad supported each others’ careers. They loved each other to bits.

But he equally knew and understood that my career was my career, and his career was his career

I know if he was alive, he would have said, no, please don't mention me. This is her moment. I've had my moment for 13 years. This is her time.

When Natasha was named the winner, she walked up on stage to give her speech.

I was the one who had to tell the journalists, I am actually the first woman of colour. And then when I got off the stage, all of them came running up to me, and said, Natasha, is what you said just true? The fact that you're the first woman of colour? And I said, Can you name me someone else? And they were like, No, we can't.

There had been other men of colour in the Welsh Parliament – but Natasha was the first woman.

So I almost had to spoon feed them the story that came out because otherwise it would have just been, you know, “member-of-the-Senedd-who's-passed-away’s-daughter has won seat”. That would have been the headline.

So not only did Natasha win the seat, but she proved her dad right: the BBC did come chasing after her. And when they did, she was the one in charge of her own story.

Of course, the moment was bittersweet because Natasha’s beloved dad wasn’t around to see it himself.

I think he would have been incredibly proud. I mean, for him, it was his ultimate dream. I know most parents love to live through their children. And for him, I think he would have loved to have seen me as a politician. So finally, when I did do it, after he passed away, and I actually won, it was incredible achievement for not just me, but everyone around me, because I know everyone really wanted to see this happen.

The way Natasha sees it, every roadblock she’s come up against has been a part of her journey.

Everything I think has just helped me lead up to this moment now where I can now inspire, encourage, support mentor, which is exactly the sort of things that I'm doing within this job now to other people to get into those dream jobs that they have and fulfil their ambitions.

Natasha runs a mentoring programme for anyone who wants to get into politics - focussing especially on young people.

So at the present moment, I don't think politicians from any party have a great reputation. And I'd like to change that image, I want people to see themselves having the potential to become politicians in the future. I know that there's a lot of distrust, and I'd like to change that.

I'd like everybody to understand that in me, you have not just a politician, but someone who can support you, who's been there, done it, got the tattoos or scars and everything else to prove it.

I’d like to be seen by others, as a politician who’s here to represent everybody, not just those from the ethnic minorities, but from all walks of life and all backgrounds.

Natasha’s steadfastness and determination have served her well. She has shown incredible resilience in her journey. She has refused to give up when times have become difficult. She has also shown great imagination in pursuing her ambitions. Despite facing the extra barrier that racial prejudice has placed in front of her, she has achieved success in her chosen field. And as the first woman of colour in the Welsh Senedd, she is not simply following in her father’s footsteps; she is blazing a trail of her own. Natasha’s story is important for those who have been discouraged by the challenges they’ve faced. The path you take may not end up being exactly as you predicted, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be extremely valuable and rewarding.