British election, 26 Indian origin make it to House of Commons, know here

British election, 26 Indian origin make it to House of Commons, know here

Durgesh Dubey
06 Jul, 2024

Amid the news coverage going gaga o

Amid the news coverage going gaga over loss of Conservatives and historic win of Labour Party in British election, India has been debating the Indian origin political figures who made it to House of Commons in this hotly contested poll.

Among the 26 Indian origin contestants who made it this time includes,

Rishi Sunak, the outgoing Prime Minister who led the campaign on behalf of Tories and was able to hold on to Richmond and Northallerton constituency in Yorkshire.

Suella Braverman, the outspoken 44-year-old barrister of Indian heritage with a Goan-origin father and Tamil-origin mother went on to apologise to the public for the Conservative Party’s performance. She won newly-created Fareham and Waterlooville constituency. Braverman was sacked in late 2023 by Sunak after she defied No 10 over an article accusing the Metropolitan Police of bias in the policing of pro-Palestine protests.

Priti Patel is also seen as a hawk who this time too secured a win in Witham in Essex. She has her roots in Gujarat's Anand district and was forced to resign from Theresa May’s government after revelations that she had conducted secret meetings with the Israeli government.

Of Goan origin is Claire Coutinho, who won the East Surrey seat. She was Sunak's Cabinet colleague serving as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Gagan Mohindra was able to win again the South West Hertfordshire seat for the Conservatives. He was appointed as an Assistant Government Whip in September 2023. Previously he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Foreign Secretary since September 2022, PPS to the Home Secretary, and PPS in the Department for Transport.

Shivani Raja bagged the keenly watched constituency of Leicester East where she was up against fellow Indian-origin Labour candidate Rajesh Agrawal. They had both canvassed around the topic of saving the city’s famous Diwali lights from being switched off over council budget cuts.

Likewise, in the now ruling Labour party, the Indian origin MPs include Seema Malhotra, who won the Feltham and Heston constituency with a comfortable margin. She has also acted as Shadow Minister for different departments.

Of Goan-origin is Valerie Vaz, also sister of Keith Vaz, who won in Walsall and Bloxwich. Valerie has served as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and member of the Shadow Cabinet from October 2016 to May 2021.

Lisa Nandy made news by winning with a big margin in Wigan. She worked as Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development and became the constituency’s first female MP and one of the first Asian female MPs.

British Sikh MP Preet Kaur Gill won against Tory first-timer Ashvir Sangha in Birmingham. She was UK’s first female Sikh MP and was a social worker and a Councillor, and Cabinet Member for Public Health and Protection prior to entering Parliament.

British Sikh MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has retained the Slough seat. Born in Berkshire, Dhesi received most of his primary education in the Punjab before returning to the UK when he was nine years old. In Parliament, Tan was the Shadow Minister for Exports.

Navendu Mishra who won from Stockport seat worked earlier as a shop-floor trade unionist before entering politics.

Nadia Whittome was among some Labour MPs who were re-elected with convincing majorities. She won from Nottingham East. In 2020 she was jointly awarded Pink News’ Politician of the Year and in 2023 she was awarded Diva Magazine’s Unsung Hero of the Year.

Jas Athwal was elected from Ilford South, he is the leader of Redbridge Council.

From Derby South, Baggy Shankar secured a win and he too worked as a trade unionist in the manufacturing and civil aerospace sectors.

Having won Southampton Test, Satvir Kaur was earlier elected to Southampton City Council in Shirley.

Harpreet Uppal was elected from Huddersfield.

Warinder Juss secured a win from Wolverhampton West and has worked at a trade union law firm for over 31 years “acting only for the injured”.

Gurinder Josan registered a win from Smethwick and has been with the Labour Party since 1998.

Kanishka Narayan , who won from Vale of Glamorgan, has studied at Oxford and Stanford and advised ministers on domestic public policy.

Sonia Kumar was elected from Dudley. She is Dudley’s first-ever female MP.

Sureena Brackenbridge registered a win from Wolverhampton North East. She also served as Mayoress in Wolverhampton North East in 2021-22.

Kirith Entwistle was elected from Bolton North East and has worked for a charity.

Jeevun Sandher who won from Loughborough, has worked as an economist and trade union rep.

Sojan Joseph was elected from Ashford. A nurse from Kerala, who migrated to the United Kingdom two decades ago, he will be the first Keralite to get elected to the British Parliament.

For the Liberal Democrats, who had a good election all round gaining over 60 seats, Munira Wilson won back her Twickenham constituency.