Britain’s general election on Thursday is expected to produce the most diverse Parliament in the country’s history, with the possibility of Indian lawmakers being elected from across the country.
Analysis by the think tank British Future has found that if Labour wins a majority in the general election, the number of ethnic minority MPs will be vastly outnumbered, and if it wins by a landslide, this will increase even more.
UK Election 2024: Full coverage
UK Election 2024: Full coverage
Around 14% of MPs in this election are from ethnic minority backgrounds, and analysis suggests the new Parliament will better reflect the diversity of the British electorate.
“This election will see the highest representation of ethnic minorities ever and the most diverse parliament ever,” said Sunder Katwala, director of British Future.
“In 40 years we have gone from one in seven MPs being from an ethnic minority background to zero to one. The UK is closing the diversity gap in its parliament and electorate faster than anyone ever thought possible,” he said.
In the last general election in 2019, 15 members of Parliament of Indian descent were elected, and many of them are running again, along with several first-timers.
Conservative MP Alok Sharma and veteran Labour MP Virendra Sharma, who represent Reading West and Ealing-Southall respectively, are among the most prominent Indian-British MPs who will not be seeking re-election this time.
The latter constituency has a large Punjabi electorate and two British Sikh candidates, Sangeet Kaur Bhairu and Jaginder Singh, are running as independents.
Among the leading British Indian candidates to watch in Thursday’s vote is Praful Nargund, Labour’s candidate in Islington North, the constituency of now-suspended former party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is running as an independent.
Jas Athwal is campaigning in Iford South, another Labour stronghold, while Baghy Shankar in Derby South, Satbir Kaur in Southampton Test and Harpreet Uppal in Huddersfield are campaigning in the party’s more sensitive constituencies.
Indore-born Rajesh Agrawal, a former deputy mayor for business in London, is seeking his first parliamentary seat from Leicester East, taking on fellow British Indian Conservative Party candidate Shivani Raja.
This constituency, which has a large Indian voter base, will be closely watched as Keith Vaz, a long-time member of parliament from Goa, is also running as an independent.
British Sikhs, including lawyers Walinder Jas from Wolverhampton and Gurinder Singh Josas from Smethwick, are hoping to win more seats for Labour, as is Kanishka Narayan, a Bihari candidate in the Vale of Glamorgan constituency, who hopes to become Wales’ first Indian MP, and Sonia Kumar, who hopes to overturn the Conservative majority in Dudley.
Conservative candidates Chandra Kanneganti in Stoke-on-Trent Central and Ameet Josia in Hendon face tough challenges in a race consistently predicted to be won by the opposition Labour Party.
“A diverse parliament brings different perspectives to parliamentary work and can lead to more effective policymaking. Parliamentarians from diverse backgrounds can act as role models for their communities and encourage young people to vote and get involved in politics,” said Jill Rutter, an associate fellow at British Future who led the think tank’s analysis.
Among sitting British Indian MPs, the ones Labour is most likely to win in the election include Conservative MPs Shailesh Vala in North West Cambridgeshire, Gagan Mohindra in South West Hertfordshire and Claire Coutinho in East Surrey.
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Meanwhile, UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to retain his constituency of Richmond and Northallerton in the north of England, as are his former cabinet colleagues Priti Patel of Witham, Essex, and Suella Braverman of Fareham and Waterlooville.
A series of retirements, mainly among sitting Conservative MPs, means the new Parliament elected on Friday will have around 158 new members in the House of Commons.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed (PTI)
Location: London, United Kingdom (UK)
First revealed: 04 July 2024 00:24 IST
