The Right Honourable
Shailesh Vara
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office
7 July 2022 – 6 September 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byBrandon Lewis
Succeeded byChris Heaton-Harris
Minister of State for Northern Ireland
In office
9 January 2018 – 15 November 2018
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byChloe Smith
Succeeded byJohn Penrose
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In office
8 May 2015 – 17 July 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byCaroline Nokes
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts and Legal Aid
In office
7 October 2013 – 13 July 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byHelen Grant
Succeeded bySam Gyimah
Member of Parliament
for North West Cambridgeshire
Assumed office
5 May 2005
Preceded byBrian Mawhinney
Majority25,983 (40.3%)
Personal details
Born
Shailesh Lakhman Vara

(1960-09-04) 4 September 1960
Uganda Protectorate
NationalityUgandan
British
Political partyConservative
Alma materBrunel University
ProfessionSolicitor
Websitewww.shaileshvara.com

Shailesh Lakhman Vara (born 4 September 1960) is a Ugandan-British politician, who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from July to September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Cambridgeshire since 2005.

Vara served as a Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2001 to 2005. After two unsuccessful attempts to be elected to the House of Commons, he was elected as the MP for North West Cambridgeshire at the 2005 general election, succeeding Brian Mawhinney as the Conservative MP for the seat. In 2006, he was appointed to the shadow ministerial post of Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons by David Cameron.

Vara served in the Cameron government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts and Legal Aid from 2013 to 2016 and as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2015 to 2016. He returned to the backbenches in July 2016, having been removed from his positions by the new Prime Minister Theresa May. In the January 2018 reshuffle, he re-entered government as Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), serving under Karen Bradley. In November 2018, Vara resigned from this role in opposition to May's draft Brexit withdrawal agreement. During the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis, Vara was appointed by Boris Johnson as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland but was dismissed by Liz Truss on 6 September 2022.[1]

Early life

Born in Uganda to Gujarati Indian immigrants on 4 September 1960, Vara moved to Britain with his family in 1964 when he was four and had a Hindu upbringing.[2][3] Educated at Aylesbury Grammar School and Brunel University, Vara qualified as a solicitor.

He worked in the City and West End of London, and during 1989–1990, in Hong Kong.[4] Vara has been a senior legal adviser and business consultant for London First, and is vice-president of the Small Business Bureau.[5]

Political career

Vara has been involved with the Conservative Party since the late 1980s and has held various posts at local, regional and national levels. He served as a Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2001 to 2005.[6] In this position, he had a broad range of responsibilities, including advising Michael Howard, deputising for the Party chairman, party spokesman with the media and looking after Conservative Future (which comprises the 10,000 or so people in the party under 30).

Vara was elected Member of Parliament for North West Cambridgeshire in May 2005. He had previously contested the Birmingham Ladywood seat at the 1997 general election, which Labour's Clare Short won easily, and Northampton South in the 2001 general election, which Vara failed to win by only 885 votes.

At the Conservative Party Conference in 2000, he was awarded the accolade of official "rising star" of the Party, with Lord Alexander of Weedon describing him as a "future Conservative Party leader".[7]

In the run-up to the 2001 general election, Vara was a member of the Party's manifesto teams for Law and Order and Legal Affairs.

On 30 June 2016, Vara confirmed his support for Michael Gove in the impending Conservative leadership contest. Vara said "I have worked very closely with Michael Gove at the Ministry of Justice and have been very impressed with him. He is a man of conviction with a very sharp intellect. He cares passionately about Britain and I believe he has the necessary qualities to lead our negotiations with the EU."

In the 2019 Conservative leadership election, he initially backed the ultimately unsuccessful candidacy of Dominic Raab.[8]

Breast Cancer Bill

The Breast Cancer Bill was Vara's chosen issue after he was one of 20 MPs who were selected at random to introduce a private member's bill to the House of Commons in 2006.[9] He has campaigned to broaden the age of routine breast cancer screening for women from the present 50–70 age group to 45–75 years. The proposal was not supported by the government, which Vara claimed effectively blocked its progress by talking through to the end of the debate.[10]

Vara has given his backing to Breast Cancer Campaign's (BCC) award-winning national "wear it pink" day, and showed his support for breast cancer charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer at a meeting in the House of Commons.[11]

Resignation as Northern Ireland Minister

Early on 15 November 2018, Vara announced his resignation as a Northern Ireland Minister on Twitter, posting his letter of resignation. His resignation followed the previous day's marathon-length cabinet meeting to discuss the draft Brexit withdrawal agreement.[12]

Vara was opposed to Brexit prior to the referendum on the UK's continued EU membership in June 2016.[13] However, Vara resigned from his role at the Northern Ireland Office as he did not believe the Government's proposed exit agreement honoured the outcome of the referendum.[14]

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

On 7 July 2022, Vara was appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland by outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, replacing Brandon Lewis.[15] He was sworn as a member of the Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council on 8 July, entitling him to the style "The Right Honourable" for life.[16] He was dismissed by Liz Truss on 6 September.

Personal life

Vara has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Liz Truss - live updates: Truss outlines three priorities as PM - as Raab and Shapps confirm departure". Sky News. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  2. ↑ https://www.timesofindia.com/world/uk/15-indian-origin-mps-in-new-uk-parliament/amp_articleshow/72550708.cms
  3. ↑ "British Law Minister Shailesh Vara's India visit to carry forward UK-India legal links". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2015. The Minister already has close links to India. A Gujarati speaker, he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Indian Government earlier this year. He is also the first person of Gujarati origin to serve as a British Government Minister.
  4. ↑ Grant shuffled out as PM names ex-City solicitor as new justice minister, Legal Futures, 7 October 2013
  5. ↑ House of Commons, Class of 2005, The Guardian, 10 October 2005
  6. ↑ https://members.parliament.uk/member/1496/career
  7. ↑ 'Rising star' hopes for Westminster ascent, BBC News, 28 May 2001
  8. ↑ "Peterborough MP Shailesh Vara backs Dominic Raab as next Prime Minister". Peterborough Telegraph. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  9. ↑ "Breast Cancer Bill". Shailesh Vara MP. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  10. ↑ Vara, Shailesh. "Government Blocks Breast Cancer Bill". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  11. ↑ Wear it pink for cancer campaign Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Peterborough Telegraph, 24 October 2006
  12. ↑ McCormack, Jayne (15 November 2018). "Brexit deal: NIO Minister of State Shailesh Vara resigns". BBC News.
  13. ↑ "EU vote: Where the cabinet and other MPs stand". BBC News. 22 June 2016.
  14. ↑ "READ IN FULL: Shailesh Vara's resignation letter to Theresa May over 'half-way house' Brexit deal". 15 November 2018.
  15. ↑ "Ministerial appointments: July 2022". GOV.UK. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  16. ↑ "List of Business 8th July 2022" (PDF). Privy Council of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  17. ↑ He is married with two children.New Model Tories: Tory tribes, The Independent, ].
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