London: A record number of Indian-origin candidates have been elected to the British Parliament in Thursday’s UK elections after the Labour scripted history by securing a landslide victory, ending 14 years of turbulent Conservative rule wracked by gaffes, infighting and scandals. Despite the drubbing meted out to the Tories, several Indian-origin Conservatives managed to survive the brutal outcome.
With only two seats left to be counted, the Labour won a mammoth 412 seats, while the Conservatives could only secure 121 seats. Starmer will now succeed the Conservative leader Rishi Sunak as the next British PM, amid a gigantic responsibility of recovering the flailing economy.
Outgoing PM Rishi Sunak resigned as the Prime Minister as well as the leader of the Conservative Party after a crushing defeat to the Labour Party in Thursday’s UK elections. In his farewell speech, Sunak acknowledged the public’s anger against the party and thanked his colleagues, friends and family. The party suffered widespread discontent due to economic stagnation and rising cost-of-living crisis.
The last general election in 2019 resulted in 15 MPs of Indian heritage crossing over the line, many of whom are contesting again alongside several first-timers. Conservative Party MP Alok Sharma and Labour veteran Virendra Sharma are among the most high-profile British Indians not seeking re-election this time.
Conservative Party
As many as 26 Indian-origin MPs have been elected to the Parliament. Outgoing PM Rishi Sunak led the Tory charge of British Indians holding on to their seats with a decisive victory in Richmond and Northallerton constituency in Yorkshire. Other prominent British Indian Tories holding on to their seats included former home secretaries, Suella Braverman and Priti Patel, as did Sunak’s Goan-origin Cabinet ally Claire Coutinho.
Gagan Mohindra held on to his South West Hertfordshire seat for the Conservatives, with Shivani Raja registering a gain for the party in the keenly watched constituency of Leicester East where she was contesting against fellow Indian-origin Labour candidate Rajesh Agrawal. Among the losers were Shailesh Vara, who narrowly lost his North West Cambridgeshire seat to Labour, and first-timer Ameet Jogia, who also lost the Tory-held Hendon seat in London to Labour.
Labour Party
The Keir Starmer-led party saw the maximum number of Indian-origin candidates being elected to the Parliament. Seema Malhotra held on to her Feltham and Heston constituency while Valerie Vaz on in Walsall and Bloxwich, as did Lisa Nandy with a big margin in Wigan.
British Sikh MPs Preet Kaur Gill, who defeated Tory first-timer Ashvir Sangha, and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi both won back their seats for Labour in Birmingham Edgbaston and Slough respectively. Navendu Mishra (Stockport) and Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) were among the other Labour MPs re-elected with convincing majorities. However, Praful Nargund lost to former party leader Jeremy Corbyn, now contesting as an independent, in Islington North.
It was among the newcomers that British Indians made a big mark for the Labour Party, with Jas Athwal (Ilford South), Baggy Shanker (Derby South), Satvir Kaur (Southampton Test), Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield), Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West), Gurinder Josan (Smethwick), Kanishka Narayan (Vale of Glamorgan), Sonia Kumar (Dudley), Sureena Brackenbridge (Wolverhampton North East), Kirith Entwistle (Bolton North East), Jeevun Sandher (Loughborough) and Sojan Joseph (Ashford) among those set to take their seats in Parliament next week.
Labour’s relationship with India
Liberal Democrats, who recorded their best-ever performance in the political history of Britain, saw Munira Wilson winning back her Twickenham constituency. With his way clear to become the next PM, Starmer’s government is expected to foster stronger ties with India.
The 61-year-old Labour leader has been trying to e-build his party’s relationship with British Indians, alienated under former leader Jeremy Corbyn over a perceived anti-India stance on Kashmir. His party’s 2024 election manifesto commits to seeking “a new strategic partnership for global security, climate security, economic security”.
(with PTI inputs)
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