Sunak, Raja, Gill – Prominent Indian-origin MPs who won a seat in British Parliament
The outgoing House of Commons featured 15 MPs of Indian origin, and this number has gone in the UK general election 2024. Here are some of the prominent British-Indians who won in this election
The outgoing House of Commons featured 15 MPs of Indian origin, and this number has gone in the UK general election 2024. A total of 107 British-Indian candidates were vying for seats in the 680-seat assembly. Here are some of the prominent British Indians, who have made it to the Parliament this time. Some of them are old-timers:
Rishi Sunak
UK's first Indian-origin Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has retained his seat in Richmond and Northallerton in northern England but conceded defeat in general elections to Labour Party, which cruised to victory winning 378 seats. The first British Asian prime minister, he previously held two cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, including Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022.
Shivani Raja
Shivani Raja, a Conservative Party leader, has won the Leicester East ousting the Labour Party from the seat. She was up against heavyweights including former MPs Claude Webbe and Keith Vaz who contested as Independents.
Born in Leicester, Raja has studied at Soar Valley College, and Queen Elizabeth II college. She graduated with First Class Honours in Cosmetic Science from De Montfort University. She managed to defeat Rajesh Agrawal, the Indore-born former deputy mayor of London for business, who was aiming to become a first- time MP from Leicester East. This constituency represents a large Indian origin electorate, was keenly watched as its former long-term Goan-origin MP, Keith Vaz, was also in the race as an Independent candidate.
Kanishka Narayan
Narayan became Wales’ first MP from a minority ethnic background defeating former Welsh Sec Alun Cairns. Born in Bihar in India, Narayan moved to Cardiff when he was 12 years old.
The Times described him as “the Old Etonian scholarship boy and civil servant in the Vale of Glamorgan”. He earned a scholarship to Eton, studied at Oxford and Stanford, and then became a civil servant. Narayan served as a civil servant in the Cabinet Office under David Cameron and in the Environment Department under Liz Truss. He has also worked in the private sector, providing financial advice to businesses.
Suella Braverman
This Indian-origin politician has won from Fareham and Waterlooville seats. A controversial figure in the Sunak government, Braverman had created a stir with her statement that Metropolitan Police was lenient with pro-Palestine protesters. In the cabinet rejig, she was replaced by James Cleverly as interior minister. She was also sacked as home secretary after challenging Sunak.
A member of the Conservative Party, she was the MP for Fareham from 2015 until 2024.
Preet Kaur Gill
A member of the Labour Party, Gill, who was Britain's first Sikh female MP, has been re-elected from Birmingham Edgbaston. Gill secured 16,599 votes in the safe Labour seat - winning with 44.3 per cent of the vote. Earlier, she has served as the Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Public Health.
“A honour and a privilege to be re-elected again as MP for Birmingham Edgbaston. Thank you to everyone who put their trust in me. I will continue to serve the people and place I love,” Gill wrote on X (formerly Twitter). She was first elected from the constituency in 2017.
Priti Patel
Former home secretary Priti Patel has retained her Witham seat in Essex, winning 37.2 per cent of the votes to beat Labour Party candidate. The politician of Gujarati descent served as Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. Patel, a member of the Conservative Party, has been an MP for Witham since 2010.
Navendu Mishra
Mishra, who is a member of the Labour Party has won from Stockport constituency, which has voted Labour in every election since 1992.
He had secured this seat in the 2019 elections as well. This time, Mishra has been re-elected with 21,787 votes. I am honoured to be re-elected to the House of Commons, now with a 15,270 vote majority. I will continue to fight for a better future for us all, he posted on X.
Gagan Mohindra
Born into a Punjabi Hindu family, Mohindra is a member of the Conservative Party. He has been re-elected from South West Herts, winning with 16,458 votes with Liberal Democrat Sally Symington coming second with 12,002. His parents are both from Punjab having immigrated to the United Kingdom before Mohindra was born. His paternal grandfather served in the British Indian Army.
Lisa Nandy
A labour party member, Nandy comfortably retained her Wigan seat, which she has held since 2010. She got 19,401 votes, while the Conservative party candidate Henry Mitson received only 4,310 votes. Lisa is the daughter of Dipak Nandy, a reputed Kolkata-born academic known for his work in race relations in Britain.
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
The Sikh leader has been re-elected as MP from Slough. In a post on X, he thanked people of Slough for re-electing him. Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi is the first ever turbaned Sikh MP of the British parliament.
Sojan Joseph
Joseph, a 49-year-old male nurse and a Labour Party candidate made history by winning the Ashford seat in the British Parliament. Reportedly, he became the first Labour MP to represent Ashford since the seat was established 139 years ago. He is also the first Malayali to be elected to the House of Commons. Joseph defeated the former first secretary of state, who had represented the constituency for the past 27 years. Sojan and his wife, who is also a nurse, studied nursing in Bengaluruand migrated to Britain in 2001. The couple has three children.
