Sonia Kumar is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. Kumar was an

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

before becoming an MP.

Parliamentary career

In the

2024 United Kingdom general election The 2024 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 4 July 2024 to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The opposition Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, won a lan ...

, Kumar's opponent Marco Longhi, the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP for

, was accused of " dog-whistle" tactics against Kumar. His campaign sent leaflets to British Pakistani and Kashmiri Muslims drawing attention to Kumar's Hindu surname (writing it in capital letters and underlined), arguing that she would not support

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

while in Parliament. She was later elected MP for Dudley with 12,215 votes (34%).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Sonia Living people Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 2024–present English people of Indian descent Year of birth missing (living people) British physiotherapists