Team Blitz India
THE number of India-origin candidates who were elected to the House of Commons in 2024 has almost doubled since the last time, according to reports.
When Rishi Sunak was named Prime Minister by his party two years ago, he became the first British premier with roots in India. Sunak had also held various Cabinet positions, including Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022 under then PM Boris Johnson. He retained his own seat in Richmond and Northallerton with 47.5% of the mandate. Other India-origin candidates included Conservative Shivani Raja from Leicester East, and Kanishka Narayan, the Labour candidate who became Wales’ first MP from a minority ethnic background.
Also among the victors were Navendu Mishra who retained Stockport representing the Labour Party, Conservative Party member Gagan Mohindra from the South West Hertfordshire constituency, and former interior minister Suella Braverman from Fareham and Waterlooville seat.
Braverman was replaced by James Cleverly in the last re-shuffle of the then Sunak cabinet when she courted controversy with her statement that the Metropolitan Police were too lenient with pro-Palestine protesters. Other prominent British Indian Conservatives who won included Priti Patel, and Claire Coutinho, and independent candidate Keith Vaz. The Labour Party saw the maximum number of winners from the Indian diaspora, with Seema Malhotra retaining Feltham and Heston constituency, Valerie Vaz, sister of Keith Vaz from Walsall and Bloxwich, and Lisa Nandy from Wigan.
Prominent among ten Sikh MPs elected were Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, who won from Slough constituency for the third time in a row, and Preet Kaur Gill, again elected for the third time in a row from Birmingham Edgbaston seat.
The last general election in 2019 resulted in 15 MPs of Indian heritage crossing over the line, said a report in The Mint a day before the election was held on July 4. In 2024, altogether 107 British-Indian candidates were in fray for the 680- seat House.
According to a report in The Economic Times published after the mandate, “In a landmark outcome for Indian-origin representation, the UK Parliament will welcome a record 29 MPs of Indian descent following the 2024 general election.”
Overall, a record number of 89 ethnic minority MPs have been elected to sit in the UK’s most diverse parliament ever, an increase of 23, according to think-tank British Future’s analysis of the 2024 general election results. The largest number (66, or 16%) of ethnic minority MPs will sit on the Labour government benches, while some 14 such Conservatives were elected (11.5%), alongside 5 Lib Dems and 4 new independent MPs from a minority background, it found.
Women will again outnumber men among ethnic minority MPs, with 50 women from an ethnic minority background winning seats and 39 men, it added.
