UK election- Record 12 Indian-origin MPs in House of Commons
A record 12 Indian-origin individuals were elected as MPs in the UK House of Commons. All 10 sitting Indian-origin MPs managed to retain their seats while two new first-timers made their cut into the House. 60-year-old Keith Vaz, the UK's longest-serving Asian-origin MP, returned to the House for his eighth term. The UK has witnessed a tense election resulting in a hung parliament.
Five Indian-origin MPs were elected on Conservative tickets while the remaining seven from the Labour party. The Conservative, Liberal Democrats and Labour parties had all fielded 14 Indian-origin candidates each. None of the Liberal Democrat candidates made it to the House.
From the Labour party, Virendra Sharma won decisively in the South Asian-majority constituency of Ealing Southall. Lisa Nandy, a 37-year-old Bengali, won in Wigan, Greater Manchester, while 44-year-old Seema Malhotra retained her seat from Feltham and Heston. Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has become the first turban-wearing Sikh to become an MP, following his victory at Slough.
Infosys co-founder NR Narayan Murthy's son-in-law Rishi Sunak, 27, won in the wealthy rural Richmond constituency in Yorkshire. Suella Fernandes, 37, also held on to her seat in Fareham while Shailesh Vara, 56, a Conservative backbencher, retained his North West Cambridgeshire seat.
