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Seema Malhotra

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Seema Malhotra
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Home Office
Assumed office
9 July 2024
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Shadow Minister for Skills
In office
5 September 2023 – 30 May 2024
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byToby Perkins
Shadow Minister for Business and Consumers
In office
14 May 2021 – 5 September 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byLucy Powell
Succeeded byJustin Madders(Business)
Jeff Smith(Consumers)
Shadow Minister for Employment
In office
9 April 2020 – 14 May 2021
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byMike Amesbury
Succeeded byAndy McDonald
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In office
13 September 2015 – 26 June 2016
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byShabana Mahmood
Succeeded byRebecca Long-Bailey
Shadow Minister for Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls
In office
24 August 2014 – 13 September 2015
LeaderEd Miliband
Harriet Harman(Acting)
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded bySarah Champion
Member of Parliament
forFeltham and Heston
Assumed office
15 December 2011
Preceded byAlan Keen
Majority7,859 (16.4%)
Personal details
Born(1972-08-07)7 August 1972(age 51)
Hammersmith,London, England
Political partyLabour Co-operative
Spouse
Sushil Saluja
​
(m.2005)​
Residence(s)The Vale, Chelsea,London, England
Alma materUniversity of Warwick
Aston University
WebsiteOfficial website

Seema Malhotra(born 7 August 1972)[1]is a British politician serving as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Home Office andMember of Parliament(MP) forFeltham and Hestonsince2011.[2][3][4]A member of theLabourandCo-operativeparties, she has served as Shadow Minister for Skills and Further Education since 2023 and previously sat on the opposition front bench as theShadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury,Shadow Minister for Business and Consumers, Shadow Minister for Employment and a shadowHome Officeminister.

Since July 2024, Malhotra has become the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Home Office and continues to represent the people of Feltham and Heston following a majority in the general election on 4 July 2024.

Early career[edit]

One of five children of Sushil Kumar Malhotra (1941–2014), ofOsterley,a shop owner, formerly a financial adviser and an engineer, and his wife Usha,[5]Malhotra was educated at schools in theLondon Borough of Hounslow,studied politics and philosophy at theUniversity of Warwickand took a postgraduate degree in business and information studies atAston University.[6]

OfIndianHindudescent,[7]Malhotra is a formermanagement consultantwho worked forAccentureandPriceWaterhouseCoopers.[8]She founded theFabian Women's Network,and was a previous National Chair of theYoung Fabians.[9]

Malhotra was the Labour candidate for theSouth Westconstituency in the2004 London Assembly elections,coming third with 17% of the vote.

WhileLabour was in governmentbefore 2010, she worked as an adviser toLiam ByrneandIan Austinwhen they were regional ministers for theWest Midlands.FollowingGordon Brown's resignation as Labour leader in the wake of the2010 general election,she was the special adviser toHarriet Harmanduring her tenure asLeader of the Labour Party.[8]

Parliamentary career[edit]

Malholtra entered Parliament in December 2011, on majority of 6,203 in theFeltham and Heston by-election,which increased in 2015 and in 2017, to reach 15,603 votes.[8]

In August 2014,Ed Milibandappointed Malhotra to the newly created role of Shadow Minister for PreventingViolence Against Womenand Girls.[10]The role earmarked Malhotra to be among Labour'sHome Officeministers if the party became elected to power. In this she took up identifying problems, finding solutions and reviewing funding decisions as to crime prevention, prosecution and victim support in cases of rape,sexual assault,domestic violence,female genital mutilation,forced marriage,prostitution andtrafficking.

On 13 September 2015, Malhotra was appointedShadow Chief Secretary to the TreasuryinJeremy Corbyn'sshadow cabinet.On 26 June 2016, Malhotra resigned from the shadow cabinet over the leadership, along withdozens of other shadow ministers.[11][12]She supportedOwen Smithin his failed bid to replace Corbyn in the2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.[13]

Following her resignation, Malhotra formally complained to theSpeaker of the House of Commonsabout aides to Corbyn and McDonnell gaining unauthorised access to her office after her resignation and "harassment" of her staff.[14]John McDonnell's explanation was that the office was a shadow Treasury team office which Malhotra was moving out of, and his office manager who was a key holder, after seeing boxes outside, went in to check if it was now empty.[15]After an investigation, the Speaker concluded there was no information which justified regarding the events as a possible breach ofParliamentary privilege.[14]

In 2017, Malhotra set up a local charity, Hounslow's Promise, to give local children the best possible start in life, which she continues to run.[16]

Malhotra voted in the successful yes ('Aye') lobby in a key House of Commons division of 25 June 2018 as to the National Policy Statement: Airports which laid out government support for a third runway, and was not among the 28 of 46 London Labour MPs opposing the runway.[17]During the related debate she said:

"A majority in my constituency is in favour of expansion — every poll in recent years has shown that, and it is generally in the ballpark of 2:1. Tens of thousands of my constituents work, or have worked, at the airport. London’s first airport was in my constituency, in what is now Hanworth Air Park... Today it is a disgrace that we are unfortunately being asked to vote before we have all the information, including sight of new flight paths and analysis of how people will be affected. If the Government get support for the NPS tonight, it will be for them to hold true to their word that the development consent will not be given unless detailed proposals show how environmental impacts will be mitigated in line with legal obligations, and all other commitments adhered to."[18][non-primary source needed]

FollowingKeir Starmer's election as Labour leader in April 2020, Malhotra returned to the front bench as the Shadow Minister for Employment in the shadow work and pensions team. In this role, she highlighted the impact of Covid-19 lockdown on aviation communities.[19]In addition, she convened a "Blue Skies" conference to secure the future of West London's aviation sector and "to draw up an ambitious and far-sighted blueprint for the future of aviation."[20]She continues to co-chair the London West Innovation District, which aims to produce innovation clusters in West London for aviation, creative industries, and tech.[21]

She was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Business and Consumers in the minorMay 2021 reshuffle,succeedingLucy Powellin the role.[22]In the2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle,she was appointed Shadow Minister for Skills and Further Education.[23]

Personal life[edit]

Malhotra is married to management consultant and financier Sushil Kumar Saluja, who wasAccenture’s Senior Managing Director for Financial Services in Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Latin America, and serves on the board ofTheCityUKwhich is an industry body that promotes financial services in the UK.[7][24]They live onThe Vale, Chelseain a property valued at £9,775,000.[25][7]Prior to serving as an MP, it was reported that Malhotra used the name 'Malhotra-Suma';[6]the 2017 Election poll results state her name to be 'Seema Malhotra-Saluja (known as Seema Malhotra)'.[26][27]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Democracy Live: Your representatives: Seema Malhotra".BBC News.Archived fromthe originalon 15 March 2012.Retrieved21 November2012.
  2. ^"Labour wins Feltham and Heston by-election".BBC News. 16 December 2011.Retrieved16 December2011.
  3. ^"By-election 2011".London Borough of Hounslow. Archived fromthe originalon 1 May 2012.Retrieved28 November2013.
  4. ^Waugh, Paul (23 November 2011)."Winter by-election".PoliticsHome| The Waugh Room.Archived fromthe originalon 28 November 2011.Retrieved28 November2013.
  5. ^Patel, Salina (17 June 2014)."MP Seema Malhotra's heartwarming tribute to her" amazing father "who died of cancer aged 72".getwestlondon.
  6. ^ab"Indian lady in House of Commons".telegraphindia.
  7. ^abcRoy, Amit (17 December 2011)."Indian lady in House of Commons".The Telegraph.Calcutta. Archived fromthe originalon 18 August 2016.Retrieved25 July2016.
  8. ^abcWatt, Nicholas (16 December 2011)."Feltham and Heston byelection: Labour wins, but turnout tumbles".The Guardian| Politics.Retrieved16 December2011.
  9. ^"The Committee".fabianwomen.co.uk.Fabian Women's Network. Archived fromthe originalon 20 November 2011.Retrieved16 December2011.She is the founder and Director of the Fabian Women's Network. [...]
  10. ^Sparrow, Andrew (25 August 2014)."Labour appoints shadow minister to tackle violence against women and girls".The Guardian.Retrieved2 April2015.
  11. ^Syal, Rajeev; Perraudin, Frances; Slawson, Nicola (27 June 2016)."Shadow cabinet resignations: who has gone and who is staying".The Guardian.Retrieved14 September2016.
  12. ^"Who's staying and who's going in the shadow cabinet?".BBC News. 27 June 2016.Retrieved28 June2016.
  13. ^"Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith".LabourList.21 July 2016.Retrieved15 July2019.
  14. ^ab"Bercow: Malhotra office access claims didn't breach rules".BBC News. 26 July 2016.Retrieved26 July2016.
  15. ^Peter Yeung (24 July 2016)."John McDonnell makes impassioned direct-to-camera plea to Labour members: 'We've got to stop this now'".The Independent.Retrieved27 July2016.
  16. ^Dawood, Sarah (2 February 2024)."Seema Malhotra: The Tories are short-changing young people".New Statesman.Retrieved26 April2024.
  17. ^"National Policy Statement: Airports (Division 192: held on Monday 25 June 2018) - Hansard - UK Parliament".hansard.parliament.uk.Retrieved14 June2021.
  18. ^"National Policy Statement: Airports - Monday 25 June 2018 - Hansard - UK Parliament".hansard.parliament.uk.Retrieved14 June2021.
  19. ^Glaze, Ben (4 December 2020)."Coronavirus' impact on airport communities laid bare in new jobless figures".The Mirror.Retrieved26 April2024.
  20. ^"'Blue Skies Conference 2020' to discuss the future of UK's aviation industry - EasternEye ".17 November 2020.Retrieved26 April2024.
  21. ^"London West Innovation Network | Home".London West Innovation Network.Retrieved26 April2024.
  22. ^Rodgers, Sienna (14 May 2021)."Reshuffle: Keir Starmer's new Labour frontbench in full".LabourList.Retrieved15 May2021.
  23. ^Labour Party (5 September 2023)."Keir Starmer has made the following appointments to the Labour Party's frontbench".Twitter.Retrieved26 April2024.
  24. ^"Sushil Saluja".Accenture. Archived fromthe originalon 19 August 2019.Retrieved25 July2016.
  25. ^https:// zoopla.co.uk/house-prices/london/the-vale-sw3/sw3-6ah/.{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)
  26. ^"Feltham and Heston Declaration of Result of Poll"(PDF).hounslow.gov.uk/.8 June 2017.
  27. ^"UK General Election results June 2017".Politics Science Resources.8 June 2017. Archived fromthe originalon 11 November 2018.Retrieved14 June2021.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSeema Malhotra.
Party political offices
Preceded by Chair of theFabian Society
2005–2006 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of theFabian Society
2014–2016 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of theYoung Fabians
1999–2000 		Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
forFeltham and Heston
2011–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
2015–2016 		Succeeded by
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