UK elections 2024: British Indians who made it to House of Commons
Keir Starmer is on the brink of becoming the next prime minister of Britain on Friday, as his Labour Party is projected to achieve a landslide victory in the UK election.
The Conservatives, led by Rishi Sunak, are expected to suffer unprecedented losses. According to predictions, the centre-left Labour Party is set to secure an impressive 410 out of the 650 parliamentary seats, representing a significant comeback from their abysmal result five years ago, which was their worst performance since 1935.
Should the exit polls prove to be correct, the Labour party would hold a commanding majority of 170 seats, indicating the conclusion of a 14-year era of Conservative-led government in the United Kingdom.
The outgoing House of Commons featured 15 MPs of Indian origin, and this number is anticipated to rise. In the UK General Election 2024, a total of 107 British-Indian candidates are vying for the 680 available seats.
Here are the British Indians who won:
Rishi Sunak
UK’s incumbent Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has retained his seat northern England but conceded defeat in general elections to Labour Party.
“Today, power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly manner with goodwill on all sides,” said Sunak, as his Conservative party suffered a historic defeat to Labour.
Shivani Raja
Shivani Raja has won Leicester East gaining the seat from Labour party. The fight in Leicester East had a host of heavyweights in the fight including former MPs Claude Webbe and Keith Vaz who contested as Independents. Shivani Raja, a Leicester-born who studied in the city at Herrick Primary, Soar Valley College, Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth II college. She also graduated with First Class Honours in Cosmetic Science from De Montfort University (DMU).
Kanishka Narayan
Former Welsh Sec Alun Cairns loses out to Labour’s Kanishka Narayan, of Indian origin who becomes Wales’ first MP from a minority ethnic background. Narayan was born in India and moved to Cardiff when he was 12. He got into Eton on a scholarship, went on to study at Oxford and then Stanford before becoming a civil servant.
Suella Braverman
Indian-origin Suella Braverman has won the Fareham and Waterlooville seat.
Braverman was replaced by James Cleverly as interior minister in the last re-shuffle of the last Sunak cabinet. She had courted controversy after suggesting that the Metropolitan Police were too lenient with pro-Palestine protesters.