Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

Tanmanjeet Singh "Tan" Dhesi (Punjabi: ਤਨਮਨਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਧੇਸੀ, born 17 August 1978) is a British Labour Party politician.[2][3] He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Slough in 2017.[4] He was appointed Shadow Minister for the Railways by Labour leader Keir Starmer in April 2020.[5]

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

MP
Singh Dhesi in 2020
Shadow Minister for Rail
Assumed office
9 April 2020
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byRachael Maskell
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition
In office
7 January 2020 – 6 April 2020
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byKate Hollern
Succeeded byCarolyn Harris
Member of Parliament
for Slough
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byFiona Mactaggart
Majority13,640 (26.7%)
Personal details
Born (1978-08-17) 17 August 1978[1]
Slough, Berkshire, England
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity College London
Keble College, Oxford
Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge

Personal life

Dhesi was born in Slough, and spent his early years in Chalvey.[6][7]

He is the son of Jaspal Singh Dhesi, who runs a construction company in the UK, and who is the former president of Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara, in Gravesend, Kent, the largest gurdwara in the UK.[2]

Dhesi has a bachelor's degree in mathematics with management studies from University College London, studied applied statistics at Keble College, Oxford, and has a Master of Philosophy in the history and politics of South Asia from Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.[2]

In 2012, his mother, Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi, was jailed in India, for kidnap and forcing an abortion on a teenage mother, who later died.[8][9] The conviction was criticised by many commentators for being politically motivated, and an appeal was filed by Dalwinder in the immediate aftermath of the decision. In 2018, a double bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld this appeal. All charges against her were subsequently dropped.[10]

Career

Dhesi was the former mayor of Gravesham and the chair of Gravesham Constituency Labour Party in Kent where he stood unsuccessfully during the 2015 general election, losing out to Conservative MP Adam Holloway.[11][12]

He became Britain's first turbaned Sikh MP in the 2017 general election after gaining the nomination following Fiona Mactaggart standing down. He gave his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 18 July 2017 which was praised greatly by fellow MPs Gareth Snell and Mike Gapes.[13][14]

On 4 September 2019, Dhesi criticised perceived Islamophobic comments by Boris Johnson, which compared Muslim women wearing the burqa to "letterboxes" and "bank robbers". He called for Johnson to investigate Islamophobic hate speech within the Conservative Party.[15]

Singh has served on the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee since July 2018.[16]

Singh supported Lisa Nandy in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.[17]

References
  1. "Members' Names Data Platform query". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  2. Singh, I P (30 April 2017). "Dhesi is Labour candidate from Slough". Times of India. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  3. Brunetti, Nic (29 April 2017). "Slough born Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi pays tribute to home town he 'loves so much' as he is chosen as Labour candidate to replace Fiona Mactaggart MP". Slough Observer. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  4. "How Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Became UK's First Turbaned Member Of Parliament". Huffington Post India. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  5. Indian-origin Seema Malhotra, TS Dhesi in new Labour leader's shadow cabinet Hindustan Times
  6. "Drugs Policy – Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  7. "Tan Dhesi MP". Labour South East. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  8. "Mayor of Gravesham embroiled in mother's jailing for kidnap". Kentonline.co.uk. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  9. "UK polls: Harpreet Kaur case convict's son in fray | chandigarh". Hindustan Times. 22 April 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  10. "yespunjab". 4 December 2018.
  11. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. "GRAVESHAM 2015". electionresults.blogspot.co.uk.
  13. Basu, Indrani (9 June 2017). "How Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Became UK's First Turbaned Sikh Member Of Parliament". Huffington Post India. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  14. Matthews, Luke (18 July 2017). "Slough MP Tan Dhesi praised for maiden speech in parliament". Slough Express. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  15. Simons, Ned (4 September 2019). "Boris Johnson Told To Apologise For 'Racist' Burkha Comments In Passionate Speech By Labour MP". HuffPost. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  16. "Parliamentary career for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  17. "Here are the 23 MPs backing Wigan's Lisa Nandy in the Labour Party leadership contest". www.wigantoday.net. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Fiona Mactaggart		 Member of Parliament for Slough
2017–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Kate Hollern		 Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition
2020		 Succeeded by
Carolyn Harris



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