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Virendra Sharma

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Virendra Sharma
MP
Member of Parliament
for Ealing Southall
Incumbent
Assumed office
19 July 2007
Preceded byPiara Khabra
Majority16,084 (38.1%)[1]
Personal details
Born (1947-04-05) 5 April 1947 (age 77)
Mandhali, British Raj[2]
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Nirmala Sharma
​
(m. 1968)​
Children2
Alma materLondon School of Economics
OccupationPolitician
Websitevirendrasharma.com

Virendra Kumar Sharma (born 5 April 1947[3]) is a British Labour Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ealing Southall since winning the seat at a by-election in 2007.

Early life and background

Virendra Sharma was born in Mandhali, India in 1947 in a Punjabi Hindu family[4] and received education at the London School of Economics on a trade union scholarship.[5] He speaks fluent Punjabi and Hindi in addition to English.

Sharma came to Hanwell 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 1982–2010 and became Mayor.[5] He was criticised for his low attendance[6] and stood down as a councillor at the 2010 local elections.

Parliamentary career

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.[7] 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".[8]

In November 2008, the Labour government gave Sharma the role of Parliamentary Private Secretary[9] 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 Tamils.[10] 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.[11]

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.[12]

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).[13]

Personal life

Sharma has been married to Nirmala since 1968. They have a son and daughter and three grandchildren.[14] He has been the vice-chair of APPG for British Hindus.[15] He is currently a school governor at the Three Bridges and Wolf Fields schools.[citation needed]

References

  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. ^ https:timesofindia.com/india/uk-mp-under-fire-for-not-taking-oath-on-gita/amp_articleshow/73039203.cms
  5. ^ a b "UKPollingReport Election Guide 2010 » Ealing Southall".
  6. ^ "Opinion". The Telegraph. 16 March 2016 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  7. ^ "Virendra Sharma MP, Ealing, Southall". TheyWorkForYou.
  8. ^ Syal, Rajeev (21 September 2008). "Vaz urged to quit key Commons job". Observer. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  9. ^ "Virendra Sharma celebrates promotion". Ealing Times.
  10. ^ "House of Commons - Register Of All-Party Groups as at 30 July 2015 : Tamils". publications.parliament.uk.
  11. ^ "I quit government over Heathrow expansion: This is why I changed my mind". City AM. 16 August 2016.
  12. ^ "Virendra Sharma, other Labour MPs to vote against Brexit bill". hindustantimes.com/. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  13. ^ "Seventh Labour MP in two years loses confidence vote after revolt by activists". 26 March 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  14. ^ "Who's Who" (Document). 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.246106. {{cite document}}: Cite document requires |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |chapter= ignored (help)
  15. ^ https://www.timesofindia.com/india/uk-mp-under-fire-for-not-taking-oath-on-gita/amp_articleshow/73039203.cms
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Ealing Southall
2007–present 		Incumbent
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