A record 15 Indian-origin candidates register strong result in U.K. general election

This has been a hard-fought election in a very cold time of the year, says Priti Patel.

December 13, 2019 12:39 pm | Updated 09:44 pm IST - London:

Britain's Home Secretary Priti Patel speaks during a final general election campaign event in London, Britain, December 11, 2019.

Britain's Home Secretary Priti Patel speaks during a final general election campaign event in London, Britain, December 11, 2019.

A record 15 Indian-origin candidates entered the House of Commons on Friday, registering seven wins each for the ruling Conservative and Opposition Labour parties in the U.K. General Election.

The new Parliament is the most diverse ever, with one in 10 MPs now from an ethnic minority background.

All the nearly dozen Indian-origin MPs from the previous Parliament contesting this time were successful in clinching their seats, with Gagan Mohindra and Claire Coutinho for the Conservative Party, Navendru Mishra for Labour and Munira Wilson for the Liberal Democrats among the first-timers.

“The better our Parliament reflects the diversity within the country, the more likely it is that all voices will be represented,” said Mr. Wilson, who won from the south-west London constituency of Twickenham.

“Time to Get Brexit Done and get on with investing in our schools, hospitals and police to keep our streets safe,” said Goan-origin Coutinho, who clinched victory in the Surrey East seat.

The other Tories to return to the Commons include Priti Patel, the former U.K. Home Secretary who is likely to remain in Mr. Johnson’s top team in the new Cabinet as well. “This has been a hard-fought election in a very cold time of the year because we needed a functioning Conservative majority, said Ms. Patel, who won the Witham seat in Essex.

Her fellow Cabinet colleagues in the previous government Rishi Sunak — the son-in-law of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy — won the Richmond seat, while Alok Sharma, the former International Development Minister, clinched victory in Reading West.

Shailesh Vara won his North West Cambridgeshire seat and Goan-origin Suella Braverman clinched Fareham.

From the Opposition Labour Party, Navendru Mishra clinched the Stockport seat, while Preet Kaur Gill, who made history in the last election as the first British Sikh woman MP, was re-elected from Birmingham Edgbaston. Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, the first turbaned Sikh MP, will also return to the Commons with an impressive win from Slough in south-east England.

Veteran Labour MP Virendra Sharma won from Ealing Southall. The others holding on to their seats included Lisa Nandy who won Wigan and Seema Malhotra who clinched Feltham and Heston. Valerie Vaz, the sister of scandal-hit former MP Keith Vaz on, held on to her Walsall South seat.

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