Record 26 Indian-origin MPs set to enter UK Parliament
New Delhi, July 6 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) A record number of 26 Indian-origin MPs are set to enter the UK Parliament after Friday’s General Election results, marking a significant increase from 15, five years ago. Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak, the first Indian-origin person to have served as the UK Prime Minister, leads the pack after having secured victory from Richmond and Northallerton constituency in Yorkshire. Apart from Sunak, 25 other Indian-origin MPs — including 20 from the Labour Party and five Conservatives — also emerged victorious on Friday. Priti Patel, Conservative MP of Gujarati descent, won from Witham, Essex. Patel, who has served in various capacities, including Secretary of State for International Development, has been representing the constituency since 2010. Gagan Mohindra, a prominent politician from a Punjabi Hindu background, secured his seat in South West Hertfordshire. Mohindra has been a Conservative MP since 2019, following his initial election as a Parish Councillor in 2004. Labour Party leader Seema Malhotra retained her Feltham and Heston constituency for a fourth term since 2011. Malhotra has held several shadow ministerial roles, including Shadow Minister for Skills and Further Education. Valerie Vaz, Labour leader of Goan origin, won the Walsall and Bloxwich constituency for the fifth time. Vaz, who has been an MP since 2010, has served as the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. Lisa Nandy retained her seat in Wigan, making her the constituency’s first female MP and one of the first Asian female MPs since 2010. She has served as the Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development. Nadia Whittome, who made history in 2019 as the UK’s youngest MP at the age of 23, was re-elected from Nottingham East. Preet Kaur Gill, the UK’s first female Sikh MP, defeated Conservative Ashvir Sangha in Birmingham, a seat she has held since 2017. Gill has served as the Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Public Health. Labour Party’s Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi retained his Slough constituency, although with a reduced victory margin. Conservative leader Shivani Raja won the Leicester East constituency, where she was fielded against another Indian-origin Labour candidate, Rajesh Agrawal. 44-year-old Conservative MP Suella Braverman, who was embroiled in controversies and dismissed by the party for her statements, won from the Fareham and Waterlooville constituency for the fourth consecutive time. Additionally, other Indian-origin Labour MPs to be elected to the UK’s House of Parliament include 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.
