Hyderabad: The UK Parliament welcomed its first Conservative MP of Indian origin. In 1885, Sir Mancherjee Merwanjee Bhownagree became the first Conservative MP for Bethnal Green. He was re-elected in 1900.
In 2010, three Conservative Indian-origin MPs entered Parliament for the first time. In 2015, they were joined by two more.
As the United Kingdom (UK) approaches its general election on 4 July 2024, the Labour Party appears poised for victory, rallying behind the slogan “It's time for change”. Against this backdrop of potential political transformation, the role and representation of Indian-origin members of the Parliament (MPs) continue to significantly shape the nation's legislative landscape. The increasing presence of Indian-origin politicians in the UK Parliament reflects both rising political engagement and the broader success of British Indians.
Here is the timeline of Indian MPs in the UK Parliament
2015
There were a total of 59 Indian-origin candidates in the fray.
Out of the 59 Indian-origin candidates fray, 10 candidates were elected to the British Parliament.
2017
The 2017 snap polls have an impressive number of 56 Indian-origin candidates contested.
In 2017 had thrown up 12 Indian-origin MPs, including the first female Sikh MP Preet Kaur Gill and the first turbaned Sikh MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi both for the Opposition Labour Party.
2019
As many as 63 candidates of Indian-origin are Contested the UK general election.
A record 15 Indian-origin politicians entered the UK's House of Commons on 2019 UK Election.
Indian-origin candidates across both the ruling Conservative and Opposition Labour parties registered equally strong results of seven wins each in the UK's General Election.
2024
Total 107 British Indian candidates are in fray. Conservative fielded 30 candidates, 33 from the Labour Party, 11 from Liberal Democrat and rest 14 are from other Parties. Of the 30 Conservative candidates 23 are New Faces and the same Labour has fielded 26 news faces out of 33 total contestants.
Indian-origin MPs in 2019
Gagan Mohindra, 41, swept to victory in Hertfordshire South West. A Hindu born in the UK to Punjabi parents, Claire Coutinho, 34, also swept to victory in Surrey East with a majority of 24,040. Coutinho who lives in the stockbroker belt of Surrey, worked for two years as adviser to Rishi Sunak, chief secretary to the Treasury. An Oxford graduate, she started her career in banking, working on a trading floor where there were just eight women out of 200 people. She voted Leave in the EU Referendum. Her parents, both doctors, came to the UK from India in the 1970s with just £100, thinking Britain would give them a better life.
Munira Wilson won the election in the constituency of Twickenham held as part of the 12 December 2019 general election, with a vote count of 36,166 on a vote share of 56.1%.
Nadia Whittome Hate crime worker and left-wing activist Punjabi Nadia Whittome won Nottingham East with a majority of 17,393, becoming at age 23 the youngest serving MP and also Nottingham's first BAME MP.
Navendu Mishra, 30, a former trade union worker, took Stockport with a majority of 10,039. Mishra was selected to stand for Labour after Ann Coffey defected to Change UK earlier in the year and then quit as an MP. He was born in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and moved to Britain aged 14. His father is from Kanpur and mother from Gorakhpur.
Nadia Whittome Of the Tory MPs defending their seats, Suella Braverman increased her majority from 21,555 to 26,086. Shailesh Vara beat Labour's candidate with a majority of 25,983, which was 7,975 more than his 18,008 majority at the 2017 election.
Rishi Sunak, The multi-millionaire son-in-law of Indian billionaire and Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy, Rishi Sunak, increased his majority from 23,108 to 27,210. Home secretary Priti Patel saw her majority increase from 18,646 to 24,082.
Alok Sharma, born in Agra in Uttar Pradesh, who had a fight on his hands against the hard Left and a Muslim pressure group, both targeting his seat, managed to double his majority from 2,876 to 4,117.
Labour’s Valerie Vaz, 64, managed to hold onto her Walsall South seat, despite a tough fight by Punjabi Gurjit Bains who had worked for the Vote Leave campaign . Bains slashed Vaz’smajority of 8,892 to 3,456. Seema Malhotra, 47, saw her majority slashed in half from 15,603 down to 7,859. Lisa Nandy too saw her majority slashed from 16,027 to 6,728 in a traditional safe Labour seat of Wigan. Virendra Sharma, 72, saw his majority cut down from 22,090 to 16,084.
LABOUR DESI SIKH MPs PERFORM WELL
But in Slough former Miss India British Sikh Kanwal Toor Gill failed to make any inroads into 41-year-old Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi's majority and British Sikh Preet Gill also held onto her Birmingham Edgbaston seat without much change.
Ranil Jayawardena, who is half Indian, retained his Hampshire North East seat with a majority of 20,211.
In Bristol West, the Labour MP Thangam Debbonaire, who was born to a father of Indian and Sri Lankan heritage and an English mother, saw her majority get slashed by 9,117 votes.
2019 Detailed Results of Indian Origin MPs to UK Parliament
| Constituency name | Member first name | Member surname | gender | Winner Party | Runner Party | Winner Vote | Runner Vote | Margin |
| Birmingham, Edgbaston | Preet Kaur | Gill | Female | Labour | Con | 21,217 | 15,603 | 5614 |
| Bristol West | Thangam | Debbonaire | Female | Labour | Green | 47,028 | 18,809 | 28219 |
| Ealing, Southall | Virendra | Sharma | Male | Labour | Con | 25,678 | 9,594 | 16084 |
| East Surrey | Claire | Coutinho | Female | Conservative | LD | 35,624 | 11,584 | 24040 |
| Fareham | Suella | Braverman | Female | Conservative | Lab | 36,459 | 10,373 | 26086 |
| Feltham and Heston | Seema | Malhotra | Female | Labour | Con | 24,876 | 17,017 | 7859 |
| North East Hampshire | Ranil | Jayawardena | Male | Conservative | LD | 35,280 | 15,069 | 20211 |
| North West Cambridgeshire | Shailesh | Vara | Male | Conservative | Lab | 40,307 | 14,324 | 25983 |
| Nottingham East | Nadia | Whittome | Female | Labour | Con | 25,735 | 8,342 | 17393 |
| Reading West | Alok | Sharma | Male | Conservative | Lab | 24,393 | 20,276 | 4117 |
| Richmond (Yorks) | Rishi | Sunak | Male | Conservative | Lab | 36,693 | 9,483 | 27210 |
| Slough | Tan | Dhesi | Male | Labour | Con | 29,421 | 15,781 | 13640 |
| South West Hertfordshire | Gagan | Mohindra | Male | Conservative | Ind | 30,327 | 15,919 | 14408 |
| Stockport | Navendu | Mishra | Male | Labour | Con | 21,695 | 11,656 | 10039 |
| Twickenham | Munira | Wilson | Female | Liberal Democrat | Con | 36,166 | 22,045 | 14121 |
| Walsall South | Valerie | Vaz | Female | Labour | Con | 20,872 | 17,416 | 3456 |
| Wigan | Lisa | Nandy | Female | Labour | Con | 21,042 | 14,314 | 6728 |
| Witham | Priti | Patel | Female | Con hold | Lab | 32,876 | 8,794 | 24082 |
12 Indian-Orign MPs in 2017 Election
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Tan)
From the opposition Labour Party, Tan Dhesi won from Slough and is the first turban-wearing Sikh politician to be elected in the UK. He won by decisively polling 34,170 votes.
Preet Kaur Gill
Labour Party candidate Preet Kaur Gill won her Birmingham Edgbaston seat by polling 24,124 votes, defeating ruling Conservative party rival Caroline Squire by 6,917 votes. She is the daughter of a bus driver. She works for a housing association movement and with those most in need of affordable housing.
Keith Vaz
The longest serving Indian-origin MP Keith Vaz from the Labour Party managed to hold on to his Leicester East seat attracting 35,116 votes. He was the first person of Asian origin to sit in the House of Commons since 1922. His interests include health issues.
Valerie Vaz
Keith’s sister Valerie Vaz also had a massive win with 25,286 votes to hold on to her Walsall South seat. She was previously a lawyer. In Parliament, Valerie has presented two 10 Minute Rule Bills on epilepsy and adoption.
Alok Sharma
A chartered accountant before politician, Alok Sharma of the Conservative Party was appointed in 2016 as the Prime Minister’s Infrastructure Envoy to India. He held on to Reading West by 2,876 votes. He has campaigned to deliver a government investment in local infrastructure.
Priti Patel
Conservative Party's Priti Patel has held on to her stronghold of Witham in Essex with a solid majority of 18,646 votes. A previous member of the Conservative Party Board, Patel is interested in business, investment and trade.
Rishi Sunak
First timer for the Tories in 2015, Rishi Sunak held on to his seat with a big margin of 23,108 votes. He stands firm on his campaigns for local businesses and issues of farming.
Suella Fernandes
Also from the Conservative Party, Fernandes won Farahem with 21,555 votes. She works to improve local infrastructure and transport, along with expanding opportunities for the youth.
Shailesh Vara
Shailesh Vara has won in Cambridgeshire North West by 18,008 votes. He has introduced two Private Members’ Bills. The first, regarding breast cancer screening and the second for greater security of house holders.
Lisa Nandy
Lisa Nandy won in Wigan for Labour with 29,575 votes. Since being elected, Nandy has pursued wide-ranging campaigns – from child abuse, educational allowance, and against human rights abuses in Palestine
Seema Malhotra
Seema Malhotra held on to Feltham & Heston with 32,462 votes. She was a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Exiting the European Union.
Virendra Sharma
Virendra Sharma polled 31,720 in his safe seat of Ealing Southall. He chairs the Indo-British All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) and also works for health and human rights issues.
