Virendra Kumar Sharma (

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

: , Punjabi: ; born 5 April 1947) is a British-Indian Labour Party

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Ealing Southall Ealing, Southall (also Ealing Southall) is a constituency created in 1983 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Deirdre Costigan of the Labour Party. Constituency profile The constituency has relatively goo ...

from

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

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 ...

Early life and career

Virendra Sharma was born on 5 April 1947 in Mandhali, Nawanshahr in the Punjab Province of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

into a

Punjabi Hindu Punjabi Hindus are adherents of Hinduism who identify ethnically, linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis and are natives of the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. Punjabi Hindus are the third-largest religious g ...

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

family. He went to university at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

on a trade union scholarship. Sharma came to

Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing. It is about west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post town. Hanwell is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. St ...

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...

. He began his political career by joining the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, then switched to Labour. Sharma was Race Equalities Officer to the Labour Party nationally. He was a councillor in the

London Borough of Ealing The London Borough of Ealing () is a London boroughs, London borough in London, England. It comprises the districts of Acton, London, Acton, Ealing, Greenford, Hanwell, Northolt, Perivale and Southall. With a population of 367,100 inhabitants, i ...

from 1982 to 2010 and became Mayor.

Parliamentary career

Sharma was elected to Parliament as MP for

at the 2007 Ealing Southall by-election with 41.5% of the vote and a majority of 5,070. In September 2008, Sharma signed a letter drafted by

Keith Vaz Nigel Keith Anthony Standish Vaz (born 26 November 1956) is a British politician who served as the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester East for 32 years, from 1987 Unit ...

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". In November 2008, Sharma was appointed as Parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to the

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

at the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

and

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

Phil Woolas Philip James Woolas (born 11 December 1959) is a British environmental consultant, political lobbyist and former television producer and politician who served as Minister of State for Borders and Immigration from 2008 to 2010. A member of the ...

. Sharma resigned from this post in January 2009 in opposition to the Labour government's proposal to build a third runway at

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

. 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. He supported

David Miliband David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee and a former British Labour Party politician. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 and the Member o ...

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. In 2016, in a reversal of his previous stance, Sharma announced that he now supported Heathrow expansion. 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. In July 2017, Sharma voted against the bill on triggering

Article 50 Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) provides for the possibility of an EU member state leaving the European Union "in accordance with its own constitutional requirements". Currently, the United Kingdom is the only state to hav ...

in the House of Commons, expressing his concern over Brexit's potential effects on the economy. 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). 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. Sharma is a member of

Labour Friends of Israel Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that advocates a strong bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party (UK), Labour ...

. He is also vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for British-Hindus. On 27 May 2024, Sharma announced his retirement at the 2024 general election.

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

and Punjabi. In 2023, to celebrate 75 years of India's independence, the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

'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.

References

External links

Virendra Sharma site
*
UK Parliament Website: details of Sharma's parliamentary expenses'Ealing Times' newspaper column
written by Sharma and other Ealing MPs until 2008
UK Polling Report: Ealing Southall profile
including detail on Sharma {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Virendra 1947 births Living people Indian Hindus Punjabi Hindus Punjabi Brahmins People from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district Punjab, India politicians Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom Indian emigrants to England People from Hanwell People from Southall People from Ealing British people of Punjabi descent British Hindus English people of Indian descent English people of Punjabi descent English Hindus Politicians from the London Borough of Ealing Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 Alumni of the London School of Economics Councillors in Greater London Councillors in the London Borough of Ealing Labour Friends of Israel Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East