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{{Short description|British businessman and politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = The Lord Bhatia
| honorific-suffix = [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]]
|image = Official portrait of Lord Bhatia crop 3.jpg
|caption = Lord Bhatia in 2019
|office1 = [[Member of the House of Lords]]<br/>[[Lords Temporal|Lord Temporal]]
|term_start1 = 5 June 2001<br/>[[Life Peerage]]
| birth_name = Amirali Alibhai Bhatia
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1932|03|18}}
| birth_place = [[Tanganyika (territory)|Territory of Tanganyika]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = [[Non-affiliated members of the House of Lords|Non-affiliated]]
| otherparty = [[Crossbench]] (until 2010)
}}
'''Amirali Alibhai "Amir" Bhatia, Baron Bhatia''', [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] (born 18 March 1932) is a [[United Kingdom|British]] businessman and politician.

== Background ==
An [[Ismaili]] [[Muslim]] born in [[East Africa]], Bhatia was educated in schools in [[Tanzania]] and [[India]]. He is married to Nurbanu Amersi and has three daughters. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1972.

== Career ==
Bhatia was chairman and managing director of [[Forbes Campbell International]] Ltd between 1980 and 2001. He was the co-founder of the [[Ethnic Minority Foundation]] and its chair until 2009, and also helped establish the Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations (CEMVO). He is additionally a former trustee of various charitable organisations, including the [[National Lottery (United Kingdom)|National Lottery]] Charities Board and [[Oxfam]], serving as chairman of Oxfam Trading.

In 2006 he was the chair of the [[British Edutrust]] foundation, the organisation planning to sponsor [[Rhodesway School]]. He stepped down from the post in March 2009.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.edutrust.org/news/news+from+Edutrust/2009-03-13/New+board+and+management+arrangements+at+EACT
|title=New board and management arrangements at EACT
|access-date=13 March 2009
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220046/http://www.edutrust.org/news/news+from+Edutrust/2009-03-13/New+board+and+management+arrangements+at+EACT
|archive-date=3 March 2016
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

== Honours ==
Bhatia was appointed an [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) in the [[1997 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=54794 |date=14 June 1997 |page=10 |supp=y}}</ref> On 5 June 2001, he was created a [[life peer]] as '''Baron Bhatia''', ''of [[Hampton, London|Hampton]] in the [[London Borough of Richmond upon Thames]]'',<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=56232 |date=13 June 2001 |page=6953}}</ref> one of the first '[[people's peers]]'. He took his seat in the [[House of Lords]] as a [[crossbencher]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/2165/career|title=Parliamentary career for Lord Bhatia|website=UK Parliament|access-date=2020-03-29}}</ref>

In 2003 Lord Bhatia received the Beacon Fellowship Prize for his leadership role in countering social deprivation and exclusion in the UK and internationally.<ref>[http://www.beaconfellowship.org.uk/press_releases.asp?rel=1029 Lord Bhatia – The Beacon Prize for Leadership], Beacon Fellowship. Retrieved 2 February 2012.</ref>

== Controversy ==
In October 2010, Lord Bhatia was suspended from the House of Lords for eight months due to the [[United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal]].<ref name="bbc-20101021">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11597922 |title=Three peers suspended from Lords over expenses claims |publisher=BBC |date=21 October 2010 |accessdate=4 December 2013}}</ref> After that, he has sat in the Lords as a [[Non-affiliated members of the House of Lords|non-affiliated member]].

In December 2013, [[BBC Newsnight]] reported that Lord Bhatia had been accused by the Ethnic Minority Foundation of misappropriating £600,000 from the charity. Lord Bhatia was suing the charity for unfair dismissal, and his lawyers said that the allegations were confusing the historical position with the present dispute.<ref name="bbc-20131204">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25188606 |title=Lord Bhatia 'misappropriated 600,000 of charity funds' |author=Mark Daly |publisher=BBC |date=4 December 2013 |accessdate=4 December 2013}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6727708.ece Millionaire Lord Bhatia claimed £20,000 on small flat]
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/8071615/Expenses-Baroness-Uddin-Lord-Bhatia-Lord-Paul-ordered-to-repay-200000.html Expenses: Baroness Uddin, Lord Bhatia, Lord Paul ordered to repay £200,000]
* [http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2010/10/prileges-committee-report-on-conduct/ Conduct of Lord Bhatia, Lord Paul and Baroness Uddin]

{{s-start}}
{{s-prec|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Baron Best|The Lord Best]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom|Gentlemen]]'''<br />''Baron Bhatia'' '''}}
{{s-fol|after=[[Baron Rooker|The Lord Rooker]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatia, Amir}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:British businesspeople]]
[[Category:Crossbench life peers]]
[[Category:People's peers]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:British politicians of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Tanzanian emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British Ismailis]]

{{UK-politician-stub}}
{{life-peer-stub}}

Amir Bhatia, Baron Bhatia - Revision history

imported>Meriutanla at 07:52, 2 August 2021