Virendra Sharma

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Virendra Sharma
वीरेंद्र शर्मा
ਵਰਿੰਦਰ ਸ਼ਰਮਾ
Member of Parliament
for Ealing Southall
Assumed office
19 July 2007
Preceded byPiara Khabra
Majority16,084 (38.1%)[1]
Personal details
Born
Virendra Kumar Sharma

(1947-04-05) 5 April 1947 (age 76)
Mandhali, Punjab, British India[2]
NationalityBritish-Indian
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Nirmala Sharma
(m. 1968)
Children2
Alma materLondon School of Economics
OccupationPolitician
Websitewww.virendrasharma.com

Virendra Kumar Sharma (Hindi: वीरेंद्र कुमार शर्मा, Punjabi: ਵਰਿੰਦਰ ਕੁਮਾਰ ਸ਼ਰਮਾ; born 5 April 1947[3]) is a British-Indian Labour Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ealing Southall since winning the seat at a by-election in 2007.

In 2023, to celebrate 75 years of India's independence, the British Council’s India/UK Together’s Season of Culture organised the India UK Achievers Honours in partnership with the National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK (NISAU) to recognise the work of 75 young achievers, 8 outstanding achievers, 3 living legends and one lifetime achiever, who have been educated in the UK. Sharma has been awarded as a living legend at the India UK Achievers Honours.[4][5][6][7]

Early life and background[edit]

Virendra Kumar Sharma was born on 5 April 1947 in Mandhali, Nawanshahr in the Punjab Province of British India (now Mandhali, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district, Punjab, India) into a Punjabi Hindu Brahmin family[8] and received his education at the London School of Economics on a trade union scholarship.[9]

In addition to English, Sharma is fluent in his native Indian languages of Hindi and Punjabi.

Sharma came to Hanwell, Ealing, West London from India in 1968 and became a bus conductor on the 207 route, later working as a day services manager for people with learning disabilities in Hillingdon. He began his political career by joining the Liberal Party, then switched to Labour. He was Race Equalities Officer to the Labour Party nationally.[citation needed]

He was a councillor in the London Borough of Ealing from 1982 to 2010 and became Mayor.[9] He was criticised for his low attendance[10] and stood down as a councillor at the 2010 local elections.

Parliamentary career[edit]

Virendra Sharma was elected as MP in the Ealing Southall by-election, held on 19 July 2007. The by-election was called following the death of the sitting Labour MP, Piara Khabra, on 19 June 2007.[11] Sharma held the seat at the 2010 General Election. As a new MP in 2008, Sharma signed a letter drafted by Keith Vaz on behalf of Shahrokh Mireskandari, for which Vaz was criticised for not declaring his relationship with the family. Sharma said that Vaz had not informed him of the relationship and that he would "be more questioning before I sign a letter in future".[12]

In November 2008, the Labour government gave Sharma the role of Parliamentary Private Secretary[13] to the Minister of State at the Treasury and Home Office, Phil Woolas, who had responsibility for borders and immigration. Sharma resigned from this post in January 2009 in opposition to the Labour government's proposal to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

Sharma is a member of the parliamentary select committees on Health, Human Rights and International Development. He has made official overseas visits as an MP to Cyprus, Kenya, regions of India, Mauritius and South Korea. He is vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for British-Hindus.[14] He supported David Miliband in the 2010 Labour leadership election.

In 2016, in a reversal of his previous stance, Sharma announced that he now supported Heathrow expansion.[15]

In 2017, Sharma voted against the bill on triggering Article 50 in the House of Commons, expressing his concern over Brexit's potential effects on the economy.[16]

In 2019, Sharma lost a vote of no-confidence at his Constituency Labour Party: the reasons given by opponents were his low attendance at party meetings, slow response to constituents communications and unwillingness to campaign against toxic emissions from the redevelopment of the Old Gasworks site (Southall Waterside).[17]

Sharma is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[18]

Personal life[edit]

Sharma is a British-Indian, a British-Punjabi and a British-Hindu. He has been married to Nirmala Sharma since 1968. They have a son and daughter and three grandchildren.[19]

He has been the vice-chair of APPG for British-Hindus.[8] He is currently a school governor at the Three Bridges and Wolf Fields schools.[citation needed]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Mr Virendra Sharma MP". UK Parliament.
  2. ^ "Bio". Virendra Sharma MP.
  3. ^ "Virendra Sharma MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  4. ^ "Parineeti, Poonawalla and Chadha among India-UK achievers felicitated by NISAU and British Council -". ITV Network (India). 27 January 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  5. ^ "EVENT: India UK Achievers Honours 2023, London - Asian News from UK". 30 January 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  6. ^ Excelsior, Daily (2 February 2023). "Inventor of QR code-based degree transcripts among the outstanding achievers at the India UK Achievers Honours". Daily Excelsior. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Virendra Sharma is a Living Legend - Southall News". www.visitsouthall.co.uk. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  8. ^ a b CANTON, NAOMI (31 December 2019). "UK MP under fire for not taking oath on Gita". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  9. ^ a b "UKPollingReport Election Guide 2010". ukpollingreport.co.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Opinion". The Telegraph. 16 March 2016. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  11. ^ "Virendra Sharma MP, Ealing, Southall". TheyWorkForYou.
  12. ^ Syal, Rajeev (21 September 2008). "Vaz urged to quit key Commons job". Observer. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  13. ^ "Virendra Sharma celebrates promotion". Ealing Times.
  14. ^ "House of Commons - Register Of All-Party Groups as at 30 July 2015 : Tamils". publications.parliament.uk.
  15. ^ "I quit government over Heathrow expansion: This is why I changed my mind". City AM. 16 August 2016.
  16. ^ "Virendra Sharma, other Labour MPs to vote against Brexit bill". hindustantimes.com/. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  17. ^ "Seventh Labour MP in two years loses confidence vote after revolt by activists". 26 March 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  18. ^ "LFI Parliamentary Supporters". Labour Friends of Israel. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  19. ^ "Sharma, Virendra". Sharma, Virendra, (Born 5 April 1947), MP (Lab) Ealing and Southall, since July 2007. Who's Who. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.246106.

External links[edit]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Ealing Southall
2007–present
Incumbent