Sandip K. Verma, Baroness Verma (born 30 June 1959) known until 1977 as Sandip K. Rana, is an Indian-British politician in the United Kingdom. An appointed member of the House of Lords, she is Ministerial Champion for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Overseas, a role who chairs the UN Women's national committee. Verma has been the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, from 2015 to 2016.

Life

Born in

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

in the Indian Punjab, as a child Verma migrated with her parents to England, arriving in 1960. In 1977, aged seventeen, she married Ashok Verma. They have two children. She is the grand-daughter of the Indian freedom fighter Ujagar Singh, who was a former leader of the Indian Workers' Association and the India League. She made her living in their high fashion business before she invested in supplying residential care. This was enabled by the Conservative party's policy of privatisation and the main customer was Leicester Council. Verma was an unsuccessful Conservative parliamentary candidate in Kingston upon Hull East at the

2001 United Kingdom general election The 2001 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 7 June 2001, four years after the previous election on 1 May 1997, to elect 659 members to the House of Commons. The governing Labour Party was re-elected to serve a second term ...

, finishing third, and in Wolverhampton South West in the general election of 2005, coming second to the Labour incumbent, Rob Marris. On 2 June 2006, she was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

, taking the title Baroness Verma, ''of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

in the County of Leicestershire''. The same year, she was appointed as a Patron of the Tory Reform Group. Launch of the 13th London Mela (19949299165)

Until the formation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition following the May 2010 general election, Verma was an Opposition

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

and Conservative Spokesperson in the House of Lords on Education and Skills and for Health. In 2010 she became a Government Whip and Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, International Development, and Equalities and Women's Issues. She was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Energy and Climate Change from 2012 to 2015, and then for International Development from May 2015 to July 2016. When the new Theresa May ministry was formed in July 2016, following the resignation of

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

, Verma was not included in it. Verma was adopted as the Conservative candidate for the position of directly elected Mayor of Leicester in 2019.Andrew Hill
Labour Desperate as Political Competition Heats Up Ahead of Local Elections
dated March 24, 2019 at leicesterpropertyinsight.co.uk, accessed 18 April 2019 She lost to Labour's Peter Soulsby, coming second with 14,519 votes compared to Sir Peter's 51,444 votes. Later that year she as Ministerial Champion for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Overseas, was chosen to chair the UN Women's national committee for three years. In September 2020 Verma apologised for not consulting the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments before taking a directorship in a family firm which made solar power contracts with the controversial

Government of Uganda Uganda is a presidential republic in which the President of Uganda is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government business. There is a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is ...

led by General Yoweri Museveni. However, she denied any wrongdoing and stated “I am truly sorry for my misunderstanding of the rules which I accept is my failing and sincerely hope that the committee will accept my deepest regret at this failure. I would not deliberately disrespect the rules and sincerely apologise to the committee”.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verma, Sandip 1959 births Living people British politicians of Indian descent British Hindus Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Conservative Party (UK) life peers Politicians from Amritsar Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom Recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman