Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
MP
ਤਨਮਨਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਢੇਸੀ
Official portrait, 2020
Shadow Minister for Exports
Assumed office
27 November 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byAfzal Khan
Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
In office
6 September 2023 – 27 November 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byAbena Oppong-Asare
Succeeded byThe Lord Livermore
Shadow Minister for Rail
In office
9 April 2020 – 5 September 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byRachael Maskell
Succeeded byStephen Morgan
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
WebsiteOfficial website

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Punjabi: ਤਨਮਨਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਢੇਸੀ; born 17 August 1978) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Slough since 2017.[2] A member of the Labour Party, he has served as the Shadow Minister for Exports since November 2023.

Personal life

Dhesi was born in Slough to Punjabi Sikh parents, and spent his early years in Chalvey, Slough.[3][4] He is the son of Jaspal Singh Dhesi, who runs a construction company in the UK, and the former president of Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara, in Gravesend, Kent - the largest gurdwara in the UK.[5]

Dhesi received most of his primary education in the Punjab, India, before returning to the UK at the age of 9.[6]

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.[5]

Following in his father's footsteps, Mr Dhesi worked in construction for much of his life, running his own construction company in Scotland.[6] He served as Director for Dhesi Construction Limited which became insolvent as records show on Companies House from July 2002 to January 2007 and DGP Logistics PLC from October 2005 to April 2011.[7]

In 2012, his mother, Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi, was jailed in India, accused of kidnapping 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]

Dhesi is familiar with eight languages and is fluent in Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, French and English. He also has a working knowledge of German, Italian and Latin.[6]

Early political career

Dhesi was first elected as a councillor to Gravesham Borough Council in 2007. He later went on to become the Mayor of Gravesham between 2011 and 2012.[11][12]

He has also served as Chair of Gravesham Constituency Labour Party in Kent, where he stood unsuccessfully during the 2015 general election, losing out to Conservative MP Adam Holloway.[13][14]

Other voluntary roles whilst serving as a councillor include as school governor at two schools, a trustee with Alzheimer and Dementia Support Services, an advisor and member of Mencap and a member of the Independent Police Advisory Group to Kent Police.[6][11]

Parliamentary career

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.[15][16]

Dhesi continued working as a Councillor for Kent County Council and as a consultant for DGP Logistics for almost 2 years after being elected as an MP.[17]

Dhesi served on the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee from July 2018 until the dissolution of the 57th Parliament of the United Kingdom on 6 November 2019.[18]

In March 2020, Dhesi became a member of the Defence Select Committee.[19] He stepped down from the committee in May 2020 following his appointment ⁹as Shadow Minister for Railways.

He supported Lisa Nandy in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.[20]

In 2021, Dhesi was accused of attempting to hire volunteers for long term work without pay with the job being posted on the Working For an MP website. It was claimed that the posting of the job was an administrative error and that Dhesi himself was unaware of its existence, however he declined to comment to the Huffington Post to confirm this.[21]

In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.[22]

References

  1. ↑ "Members' Names Data Platform query". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  2. ↑ "How Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Became UK's First Turbaned Member Of Parliament". Huffington Post India. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Drugs Policy – Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  4. ↑ "Tan Dhesi MP". Labour South East. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  5. 1 2 Singh, I P (30 April 2017). "Dhesi is Labour candidate from Slough". Times of India. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Tan Dhesi MP". Labour South East. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "Tanmanjeet Singh DHESI personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  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. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  11. 1 2 "About". Tan Dhesi. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  12. ↑ Mistry, Rahul. "The Mayor". Gravesham Borough Council. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  13. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "GRAVESHAM 2015". electionresults.blogspot.co.uk.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ Matthews, Luke (18 July 2017). "Slough MP Tan Dhesi praised for maiden speech in parliament". Slough Express. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  17. ↑ "The Register of Members' Financial Interests". UK Parliament. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  18. ↑ "Parliamentary career for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  19. ↑ "Parliamentary career for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  20. ↑ "Here are the 23 MPs backing Wigan's Lisa Nandy in the Labour Party leadership contest". www.wigantoday.net. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  21. ↑ "Labour Shadow Minister Tried To Recruit Unpaid Volunteers To Work In His Office "Long Term"". HuffPost UK. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  22. ↑ Belger, Tom (5 September 2023). "Labour reshuffle: Starmer unveils six new shadow ministers of state". LabourList. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
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