Parmjit Dhanda

Parmjit Singh Dhanda
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
In office 29 June 2007 – 4 October 2008
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Angela Smith
Succeeded by	Sadiq Khan
Member of Parliament for Gloucester
In office 7 June 2001 – 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Tess Kingham
Succeeded by	Richard Graham
Majority	4,271 (8.2%)
Personal details
Born	17 September 1971 (1971-09-17) London Borough of Hillingdon
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Rupi Dhanda
Alma mater	University of Nottingham
Religion	Sikhism

Parmjit Singh Dhanda (born 17 September 1971) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gloucester from 2001 to 2010, succeeding Tess Kingham as the Labour MP for the seat. He remains the only Minister of Indian heritage ever to have served in the British Government.

Background

Born in London to Indian immigrants of Sikh Punjabi background; his mother was a cleaner at a local hospital, whilst his father was a lorry driver. He was educated at Mellow Lane School, a state Comprehensive School in Hayes, Middlesex, before attending the University of Nottingham, where he received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1993, and a MA in information technology in 1995.

Dhanda is married and lives with his family in Matson, Gloucester. Has been a member of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) since 1999. He speaks Punjabi and French, in addition to English.

Political career

Dhanda became a Labour Party organiser in West London, Hampshire and Wiltshire in 1996, then went on to be assistant national organiser with Connect in 1998 where he remained until he was elected to Westminster. He was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Hillingdon in 1998 and served on the council until 2002. He was on Labour's list for the 1999 European Parliament election, but was unsuccessful.

He was selected to contest the House of Commons seat of Gloucester at the 2001 general election following the retirement of Tess Kingham. He made his maiden speech on 27 June 2001. In parliament, Dhanda became a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee from his election until 2003. He helped set up an all-party group on Telecommunications, of which he's a Secretary. In December, 2004 he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Schools Stephen Twigg.

Dhanda held the seat in 2005 with a majority of 3,880. After the election, Dhanda was appointed to the post of Assistant Government Whip. In May 2006 he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Young People and Families in the Department for Education and Skills. In this post, he guided the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 through Parliament, which established the Independent Safeguarding Authority and would likely require 11.3 million adults to be vetted prior to working with children. On 29 June 2007 he moved to the Department of Communities and Local Government. Following the cabinet reshuffle of 3 October 2008, Dhanda was replaced by Sadiq Khan as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

In the 2010 general election, Dhanda lost his seat to the Conservatives on a 8.9% swing.

See also

• Gloucestershire
• Gloucester
• Gloucester RFC
• Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
• Co-operative Party
• Fabian Society

External links

• Labour Party
• Parmjit Dhanda MP Official site
• epolitix : Parmjit Dhanda
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Parmjit Dhanda
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Parmjit Dhanda
• Gloucestershire County Council
• BBC Gloucestershire : Parmjit Dhanda
• Gloucester Constituency Labour Party website

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Tess Kingham	Member of Parliament for Gloucester 2001-2010	Succeeded by Richard Graham
Political offices
Preceded by Maria Eagle	Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children, Young People and Families 2006-2007	Succeeded by Kevin Brennan
Preceded by Angela Smith	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 2007-2008	Succeeded by Sadiq Khan