Virendra Sharma

Virendra Sharma
वीरेंद्र शर्मा
ਵਰਿੰਦਰ ਸ਼ਰਮਾ
Member of Parliament
for Ealing Southall
In office
19 July 2007 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byPiara Khabra
Succeeded byDeirdre Costigan
Personal details
Born
Virendra Kumar Sharma

(1947-04-05) 5 April 1947 (age 77)
Mandhali, Punjab, British India[1]
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)[2] is a British-Indian Labour Party politician. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ealing Southall from 2007 to 2024.

Early life and career

Virendra Sharma was born on 5 April 1947 in Mandhali, Nawanshahr in the Punjab Province of British India into a Punjabi Hindu Brahmin family.[3] He went to university at the London School of Economics on a trade union scholarship.[4]

Sharma came to Hanwell, Ealing, 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. Sharma was Race Equalities Officer to the Labour Party nationally.

He was a councillor in the London Borough of Ealing from 1982 to 2010 and became Mayor.[4] He was criticised for his low attendance[5] and stood down as a councillor at the 2010 local elections.

Parliamentary career

Sharma was elected to Parliament as MP for Ealing Southall at the 2007 Ealing Southall by-election with 41.5% of the vote and a majority of 5,070.[6]

In September 2008, Sharma signed a letter drafted by Keith Vaz on behalf of the disgraced lawyer Shahrokh Mireskandari, for which Vaz was criticised for not declaring his relationship with him. 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".[7]

In November 2008, Sharma was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS)[8] to the Minister of State at the Treasury and Home Office, Phil Woolas.[8] Sharma resigned from this post in January 2009 in opposition to the Labour government's proposal to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

At the 2010 general election, Sharma was re-elected as MP for Ealing Southall with an increased vote share of 51.5% and an increased majority of 9,291.[9] He supported David Miliband in the 2010 Labour leadership election.

Sharma was again re-elected at the 2015 general election with an increased vote share of 65% and an increased majority of 18,760.[10]

In 2016, in a reversal of his previous stance, Sharma announced that he now supported Heathrow expansion.[11]

At the snap 2017 general election, Sharma was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 70.3% and an increased majority of 22,090.[12][13]

In July 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.[14]

In March 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).[15] Despite this, he was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 60.8% and a decreased majority of 16,084.[16][17]

Sharma is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[18] He is also vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for British-Hindus.[19]

On 27 May 2024, Sharma announced his retirement at the 2024 United Kingdom general election.[20][21]

Personal life

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.[22]

He has been the vice-chair of APPG for British-Hindus.[3] In addition to English, Sharma is fluent in his native Indian languages of Hindi and Punjabi.

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 was given the living legend at the India UK Achievers Honours.[23][24][25][26]

References

  1. ^ "Bio". Virendra Sharma MP.
  2. ^ "Virendra Sharma MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ a b "UKPollingReport Election Guide 2010". ukpollingreport.co.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Opinion". The Telegraph. 16 March 2016. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  6. ^ Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 2005-2010 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 27 December 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  7. ^ Syal, Rajeev (21 September 2008). "Vaz urged to quit key Commons job". Observer. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Virendra Sharma celebrates promotion". Ealing Times. 6 November 2008.
  9. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. ^ "I quit government over Heathrow expansion: This is why I changed my mind". City AM. 16 August 2016.
  12. ^ "Ealing Southall parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  13. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Virendra Sharma, other Labour MPs to vote against Brexit bill". hindustantimes.com/. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  15. ^ "Seventh Labour MP in two years loses confidence vote after revolt by activists". 26 March 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  16. ^ "Ealing Council download - Statements of persons nominated and notice of poll: UK Parliamentary General Election 12 December 2019". Ealing London Borough Council. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  17. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  18. ^ "LFI Parliamentary Supporters". Labour Friends of Israel. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  19. ^ "House of Commons - Register Of All-Party Groups as at 30 July 2015 : Tamils". publications.parliament.uk.
  20. ^ "Veteran British Indian Labour MP Virendra Sharma says won't seek re-election". Deccan Herald. 28 May 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  21. ^ @VirendraSharma (27 May 2024). "It has been the pleasure of a lifetime to represent Ealing Southall, but the time has come to step back from the Commons. I have every confidence we will see @Keir_Starmer and @UKLabour in power very soon. I have written to local members letting them know my decision" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 May 2024 – via Twitter.
  22. ^ "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.
  23. ^ "Parineeti, Poonawalla and Chadha among India-UK achievers felicitated by NISAU and British Council -". ITV Network (India). 27 January 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  24. ^ "EVENT: India UK Achievers Honours 2023, London - Asian News from UK". 30 January 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  25. ^ 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.
  26. ^ "Virendra Sharma is a Living Legend - Southall News". www.visitsouthall.co.uk. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Ealing Southall
2007–2024 		Succeeded by