Virendra Sharma

Virendra Sharma was born on 5 April 1947 in Mandhali, Nawanshahr in the Punjab Province of British India into a Punjabi Hindu Brahmin family. He went to university at the London School of Economics on a trade union scholarship. Sharma came to Hanwell, Ealing, London 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. He began his political career by joining the Liberal Party, then switched to Labour. Sharma was Race Equalities Officer to the Labour Party nationally. He was a councillor in the London Borough of Ealing from 1982 to 2010 and became Mayor. ==Parliamentary career==

Sharma was elected to Parliament as MP for Ealing Southall 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 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 at the Treasury and Home Office, Phil Woolas. He supported David Miliband 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 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. 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 2024, Sharma was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Asian Achievers Awards, honouring his long-standing dedication to public service and community leadership. ==References==