Parmjit Dhanda

2023-06-09T08:17:27Z

86.18.153.67: stub

{{Short description|British Labour politician}}
{{Use dmy dates}}
{{Use British English}}
{{BLP sources|date=June 2009}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Parmjit Singh Dhanda <br /> {{larger|परमजीत सिंह ढांडा}} <br /> {{larger|ਪਰਮਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਢੰਡਾ}}
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Official photograph of Parmjit Dhanda MP (cropped).jpg
| office = [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State]] for [[Department of Communities and Local Government|Communities and Local Government]]
| term_start = 28 June 2007
| term_end = 6 October 2008
| primeminister = [[Gordon Brown]]
| predecessor = [[Angela Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon|Angela Smith]]
| successor = [[Sadiq Khan]]
| office2 = [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State]] for [[Department for Education and Skills (United Kingdom)|Education and Skills]]
| term_start2 = 8 May 2006
| term_end2 = 28 June 2007
| primeminister2 = [[Tony Blair]]
| predecessor2 = [[Maria Eagle]]
| successor2 = [[Kevin Brennan (politician)|Kevin Brennan]]
| office3 = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br /> for [[Gloucester (UK Parliament constituency)|Gloucester]]
| parliament2 =
| majority3 =
| predecessor3 = [[Tess Kingham]]
| successor3 = [[Richard Graham (politician)|Richard Graham]]
| term_start3 = 7 June 2001
| term_end3 = 12 April 2010
| birth_name = Parmjit Singh Dhanda
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|09|17|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[London]], England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| otherparty =
| spouse = Rupi Dhanda
| relations =
| children =
| residence =
| education = [[Mellow Lane School]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Nottingham]]
| occupation =
| profession =
| cabinet =
| committees =
| portfolio =
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
| caption = Official portrait, 2007
}}

'''Parmjit Singh Dhanda''' (born 17 September 1971) is a British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] politician who was the [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Gloucester (UK Parliament constituency)|Gloucester]] from [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001]] until the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]], succeeding [[Tess Kingham]] as the Labour MP for the seat.

==Background==
Parmjit Singh Dhanda was born on 17 September 1971 in [[Hillingdon, West London]] to immigrant Indian [[Punjabi people|Punjabi]] [[Sikh]] parents, and was brought up in [[Southall]].<ref name=progress-20150601>{{cite news |url=http://www.progressonline.org.uk/2015/06/01/my-political-race/ |title=My Political Race |author=Vijay Riyait |publisher=Progress Online |date=1 June 2015 |access-date=9 July 2016}}</ref> His mother was a cleaner at a local hospital, whilst his father was a lorry driver.<ref name=authors/> He was educated at [[Mellow Lane School]],<ref name=authors>{{cite web|title=Parmjit Dhanda|url=https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/authors/parmit-dhanda|website=Biteback Publishing|access-date=18 September 2017}}</ref> a state [[Comprehensive School]] in [[Hayes, Hillingdon|Hayes]], [[Middlesex]], before attending the [[University of Nottingham]], where he received a [[Bachelor of Engineering]] degree in 1993, and an [[master's degree|MA]] in [[information technology]] in 1995.

Dhanda was the first ever Minister to serve in the UK Government of [[British Indians|Indian Heritage]] and remains the only Sikh Minister to date.<ref name=progress-20150601/>

Dhanda is a [[British Indians|British-Indian]], a [[British Punjabis|British-Punjabi]] and a [[Sikhism in the United Kingdom|British-Sikh]].

Dhanda is married with two children.<ref name=authors/> He has been a member of the [[Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers]] (USDAW) since 1999. He speaks [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] and [[French language|French]], in addition to English.

==Political career==
Dhanda became a [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] [[organiser (party)|organiser]] in [[West London (sub region)|West London]], [[Hampshire]] and [[Wiltshire]] in 1996, then went on to be an assistant national organiser with [[Connect (trade union)|Connect]] in 1998 where he remained until he was elected to [[Palace of Westminster|Westminster]]. He was elected as a councillor in the [[London Borough of Hillingdon]] in 1998 and served on the council until 2002. As a member of Labour's list for the [[1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|1999 European Parliament election]], he became the country's youngest European Parliamentary candidate, aged 27.

He was selected to contest the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] constituency of [[Gloucester (UK Parliament constituency)|Gloucester]] at the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 general election]] - the seat Labour required for a parliamentary majority of 1 - following the decision of [[Tess Kingham]] to stand down. He made his [[maiden speech]] in the Commons on 27 June 2001, in which he made reference to the local newspaper's article stating (upon his selection by the Labour Party) that "the people of Gloucester had not reached a sufficiently advanced state of consciousness to accept a 'foreigner' as the local MP".<ref>[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo010627/debtext/10627-25.htm#10627-25_spnew0 House of Commons Hansard Debates for 27 Jun 2001 (pt 25)]</ref> In parliament, Dhanda became a member of the [[Science]] and [[Technology]] [[Select committee (United Kingdom)|Select committee]] from his election until 2003. He helped set up an all-party group on [[Telecommunications]], of which he was Secretary. In December 2004, he was appointed [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]] to the Minister for Schools [[Stephen Twigg]].

In November 2003, Dhanda was asked by the Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] to second the Loyal Address to the Monarch from the Houses of Commons.

Dhanda retained his seat in [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005]] with an increased majority of 4,280 votes. After the election, Dhanda was appointed to the post of [[whip (politics)|Assistant Government Whip]].<ref name=TWFY>{{citation|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10852/parmjit_dhanda/gloucester|title=Parmjit Dhanda: Former MP, Gloucester, profile|website=www.theyworkforyou.com|publisher=TheyWorkForYou|access-date=21 May 2017 |df=dmy}}</ref> In May 2006, he was appointed [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State]] for Children, Young People and Families in the [[Department for Education and Skills (United Kingdom)|Department for Education and Skills]].<ref name=TWFY/><ref>{{citation|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20061209022643/dfes.gov.uk/aboutus/whoswho/ministersinfo.shtml|url=http://www.dfes.gov.uk/aboutus/whoswho/ministersinfo.shtml|archive-date=9 December 2006|title=Department for Education and Skills Ministerial Team|publisher=Department for Education and Skills|access-date=22 May 2017|url-status=dead |df=dmy}}</ref> In this post, he implemented the Green Paper 'Care Matters', introducing radical new measures of support for 30,000 children in the care system.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} On 28 June 2007, he became [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State]] for [[Communities and Local Government]]<ref name=TWFY/> with responsibility for the fire and rescue service, community cohesion and planning.<ref>{{citation|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120919132719/http://www.communities.gov.uk/staging/index.asp?id=1165684 |url=http://www.communities.gov.uk/staging/index.asp?id=1165684 |title=Minister's profiles: Parmjit Dhanda MP|publisher=[[Department for Communities and Local Government]]|website=www.communities.gov.uk|archive-date=19 September 2012|url-status=dead |df=dmy}}</ref><ref>{{citation|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120919132719/http://www.communities.gov.uk/staging/index.asp?id=1002882&PressNoticeID=2477|url=http://www.communities.gov.uk/staging/index.asp?id=1002882&PressNoticeID=2477|title=Cohesion Minister outlines priorities on race equality, Communities and Local Government News Release 2007/0148 |date= 7 August 2007|publisher=[[Department for Communities and Local Government]]|website=www.communities.gov.uk|archive-date=19 September 2012|url-status=dead |df=dmy}}</ref> He was replaced by [[Sadiq Khan]] on 6 Oct 2008.<ref name=TWFYKhan>{{citation|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/11878/sadiq_khan/tooting#profile |title=Sadiq Khan, Former MP, Tooting, profile |publisher=TheyWorkForYou |website=www.theyworkforyou.com|access-date=21 May 2017 |df=dmy }}</ref>

In 2009, he fought a [[2009 Speaker of the British House of Commons election|campaign to be Speaker of the House of Commons]], obtaining 4.4% of the votes in the first ballot.<ref name=bbc-20090610>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8092913.stm |title=Labour MP Dhanda in Speaker bid |work=BBC News |date=10 June 2009 |access-date=9 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Andrew |last=Sparrow |title=Commons Speaker contest: election day blog – live |work=The Guardian |location=UK |date=22 June 2009 |access-date=22 June 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2009/jun/22/commons-speaker-contest-election-live}}</ref>

At the speaker's conference in October 2009, Dhanda criticised the way that all 23 of [[Brown ministry|Gordon Brown's cabinet]] were White, whereas [[Third Blair ministry|Tony Blair's last cabinet]] had two "ethnic minority" cabinet ministers.<ref name=ChannelFour20Oct09>{{citation|url= http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/domestic_politics/factcheck%2Ban%2Ballwhite%2Bcabinet/3394202.html |title=FactCheck: an all-white cabinet?|date= 20 October 2009|author=Channel 4 News|publisher=Channel 4|access-date=21 May 2017}}</ref> Brown pointed out that he had a Black Attorney General ([[Patricia Scotland|Baroness Scotland]]) and an Asian Minister of State for Transport ([[Sadiq Khan]]) who sat around the Cabinet table (though only when their ministerial responsibilities are on the agenda).<ref name=ChannelFour20Oct09/>

At the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]], Dhanda lost his seat to [[Richard Graham (politician)|Richard Graham]] of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]].
''[[The Telegraph (Calcutta)]]'' reported that in December 2010, Dhanda decided to retire from politics, moving from Gloucester to [[London]]. He did not seek election at the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 general election]].<ref name=telegraphindia-20150510>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150510/jsp/7days/story_19170.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514030820/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150510/jsp/7days/story_19170.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 May 2015 |title=Journey of a cleaner's son |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Calcutta |date=10 May 2015 |access-date=9 July 2016}}</ref>

==Post-parliamentary career==
After the 2010 general election, he became a non-executive director of Hanover Housing Association - an association specialising in housing and support for the elderly and as Parliamentary and Campaigns Officer for the [[Prospect (trade union)|Prospect]] Trade Union.

In 2014, he commissioned research which was published in ''[[The Guardian]]'' about the lack of representation of BME communities in the Houses of Parliament.<ref name=guardian-20140731>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/datablog/2014/jul/31/parliament-failing-represent-uk-diversity |title=Parliament failing to represent UK's ethnic diversity |author=Rajeev Syal, Ami Sedghi |newspaper=The Guardian |date=31 July 2014 |access-date=9 July 2016}}</ref> In 2015, Dhanda published his political memoirs, ''My Political Race, An Outsider's Journey to the Heart of British Politics''.<ref name=progress-20150601/><ref name=telegraphindia-20150510/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k_lgBwAAQBAJ |title=My Political Race: An Outsider's Journey to the Heart of British Politics |author=Parmjit Dhanda |publisher=Biteback Publishing |year=2015 |isbn=978-1849548069}}</ref>

Since 2010, Dhanda has run for selection in multiple Labour safe and target seats, including [[Brent Central (UK Parliament constituency)]] in 2013,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Muir |first1=Hugh |title=Diary: Mission impossible: saving Nick Clegg's reputation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/05/hugh-muirs-diary-nick-cleg-spin-doctor |access-date=14 September 2022 |publisher=The Guardian |date=5 November 2013}}</ref> [[Aberavon (UK Parliament constituency)|Aberavon]] in 2014,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shipton |first1=Martin |title=Stephen Kinnock has not yet secured the backing of steelworkers’ union Community |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/stephen-kinnock-not-yet-secured-6666217 |access-date=14 September 2022 |publisher=WalesOnline |date=3 February 2014}}</ref> [[Ealing North (UK Parliament constituency)|Ealing North]] in 2019 and [[Wycombe (UK Parliament constituency)|Wycombe]] in 2022.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Neame |first1=Katie |title=Six make longlist in Wycombe parliamentary candidate selection |url=https://labourlist.org/2022/10/six-make-longlist-in-wycombe-parliamentary-candidate-selection |access-date=27 October 2022 |publisher=LabourList |date=27 October 2022}}</ref>

Dhanda became Executive Director at [[Back Heathrow]] from June 2017, a campaign seeking to highlight the benefits of the [[Heathrow Airport expansion|Heathrow Airport Expansion]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Press Releases |url=https://www.backheathrow.org/press_releases |access-date=2023-03-22 |website=Back Heathrow}}</ref>

In 2017 Dhanda became the first non-executive Chair of the Allied Health Professionals Federation, the country's third largest staff representative organisation in the NHS.

He served as a non-executive director of the Milton Keynes University Foundation Trust Hospital, where he chaired the Trust charity, helping to raise £10 million to build its cancer centre.

He is also a non-executive director of the Longhurst Group, a housing association that builds social housing and provides social care on a not-for-profit basis.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.parmjitdhanda.co.uk/ Parmjit Dhanda] Official site
*[http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/parmjit-dhanda/ Huffington Post Contributor Profile]
*[http://labourlist.org/author/parmjit-dhanda/ labourlist blog]
*[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/datablog/2014/jul/31/parliament-failing-represent-uk-diversity Parliament Failing to Represent UK's Ethnic Diversity]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140408142710/http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Gloucester-MP-Parmjit-Dhanda-pig-s-head-driveway/story-19000517-detail/story.html Former MP Found Pig's Head on Driveway]
*[https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/parmjit_dhanda/gloucester TheyWorkForYou.com - Parmjit Dhanda]
*[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-6372,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Parmjit Dhanda]
*[https://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/untold_stories/asian/parmjit_dhanda.shtml BBC Gloucestershire : Parmjit Dhanda ]

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{{s-par|uk}}
{{Succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Gloucester (UK Parliament constituency)|Gloucester]]
| years = 2001–2010
| before = [[Tess Kingham]]
| after = [[Richard Graham (politician)|Richard Graham]]
}}
{{S-off}}
{{Succession box
| title = [[Parliamentary Under Secretary of State]] for Children, Young People and Families
| years = 2006–2007
| before = [[Maria Eagle]]
| after = [[Kevin Brennan (politician)|Kevin Brennan]]
}}
{{Succession box
| title = [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State]] for [[Communities and Local Government]] | years = 2007–2008
| before = [[Angela Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon|Angela Smith]]
| after = [[Sadiq Khan]]
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Speaker of the British House of Commons election, 2009}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhanda, Parmjit}}
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:British people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:British people of Punjabi descent]]
[[Category:British Sikhs]]
[[Category:English people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:English people of Punjabi descent]]
[[Category:English Sikhs]]
[[Category:British politicians of Punjabi descent]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Nottingham]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Councillors in the London Borough of Hillingdon]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2001–2005]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2005–2010]]
[[Category:Members of Parliament for Gloucester]]

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Parmjit Dhanda