A Better Indian Origin Representation In The UK Parliament

07/31/2024 WFY Bureau

WFY Bureau UK: Following the July 5 general election results, a record number of 26 MPs of Indian descent are expected to join the UK Parliament, a substantial rise from the 15 that did so five years prior.

Leader of the Conservative Party and the first person of Indian descent to hold the position of Prime Minister in the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, has emerged victorious from the Yorkshire constituency of Richmond and Northallerton. On July 5, 2024, in addition to Sunak, twenty MPs of Indian descent from the Labour Party and five from the Conservative Party also won.

Witham, Essex, native Priti Patel is a Conservative MP of Gujarati heritage. Since 2010, Patel has represented the seat in a number of positions, including Secretary of State for International Development.

Prominent politician Gagan Mohindra, a Hindu from Punjab, won his seat in South West Hertfordshire. After being elected as a Parish Councillor in 2004, Mohindra became a Conservative MP in 2019.

For the fourth time since 2011, Labour Party leader Seema Malhotra was able to hold onto her Feltham and Heston constituencies. Malhotra served as the Shadow Minister for Skills and Further Education, among other shadow minister positions.

The Labour leader Valerie Vaz, who is Goan by descent, has won the Walsall and Bloxwich constituencies five times. Since 2010, Vaz has been a member of parliament and has held the position of Shadow Leader in the Commons.

Retaining her seat in Wigan, Lisa Nandy became the first female MP for the area and among the first Asian female MPs since 2010. She was the Minister for International Development in the Shadow Cabinet.

Re-elected from Nottingham East, Nadia Whittome made history in 2019 by becoming the youngest MP in the United Kingdom at age 23.

The first female Sikh MP in the UK, Preet Kaur Gill, defeated Conservative Ashvir Sangha in Birmingham, where she has been serving since 2017. Gill has held the position of Public Health and Primary Care Shadow Minister.

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi of the Labour Party kept his Slough seat, albeit with a narrower margin of victory.

Shivani Raja, the leader of the Conservative Party, defeated Rajesh Agrawal, another Labour candidate of Indian descent, in the Leicester East seat.

Suella Braverman, a 44-year-old Conservative MP who caused controversy and was sacked by the party for her remarks, won the Fareham and Waterlooville constituency for a record four times.

Moreover, Navendu Mishra, Jas Athwal, Baggy Shanker, Satvir Kaur, Harpreet Uppal, Warinder Juss, Gurinder Josan, Kanishka Narayan, Sonia Kumar, Sureena Brackenbridge, Kirith Entwistle, Jeevun Sandher, Sojan Joseph, and Murina Wilson are other Labour MPs of Indian descent who were elected to the UK House of Commons.