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Tan Dhesi

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Tan DhesiMP
ਤਨਮਨਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਢੇਸੀ
Official portrait, 2020
Shadow Minister for Exports
In office
27 November 2023 – 7 July 2024
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 Secretaryto theLeader of the Opposition
In office
7 January 2020 – 6 April 2020
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byKate Hollern
Succeeded byCarolyn Harris
Member of Parliament
forSlough
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byFiona Mactaggart
Majority3,647 (8.4%)
Personal details
Born(1978-08-17)17 August 1978(age 46)[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), commonly known asTan Dhesi,is a BritishLabourpolitician who has been theMember of Parliament(MP) forSloughsince2017.[2]

He is the UK's firstturbanedMP.

Early life and career

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Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi was born on 17 August 1978 inSloughto Indian immigrants, and spent his early years inChalvey.[3][4]He is the son of Jaspal Singh Dhesi, who runs a construction company in the UK, and the former president ofGuru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara,inGravesend,which is the largestgurdwarain the UK.[5]

Dhesi received most of his primary education inPunjab,before returning to the UK at the age of 9.[6]He has a bachelor's degree in mathematics with Management Studies fromUniversity College London,studied Applied Statistics atKeble College, Oxford,and has aMaster of Philosophyin the History and Politics of South Asia fromFitzwilliam College, Cambridge.[5]

Following in his father's footsteps, 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]

Political career

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Dhesi was first elected as a councillor toGravesham Borough Councilin 2007. He later went on to become the Mayor of Gravesham between 2011 and 2012.[8][9]

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 ofMencapand a member of the Independent Police Advisory Group toKent Police.[6][8]

Dhesi continued working as a Councillor forKent County Counciland as a consultant for DGP Logistics for almost 2 years after being elected as an MP.[10]

Parliamentary career

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At the2015 general election,Dhesi stood as theLabourcandidate inGravesham,coming second with 30.1% of the vote behind the incumbentConservativeMPAdam Holloway.[11][12]

Dhesi was elected to Parliament at the snap2017 general electionas MP forSloughwith 62.9% of the vote and a majority of 16,998.[13][14]He gave his maiden speech in theHouse of Commonson 18 July 2017 which was praised greatly by fellow MPsGareth SnellandMike Gapes.[15][16]

Dhesi served on theHousing, Communities and Local Government Committeefrom July 2018 until the dissolution of the 57th Parliament of the United Kingdom on 6 November 2019.[17]

At the2019 general election,Dhesi was re-elected as MP for Slough with a decreased vote share of 57.6% and a decreased majority of 13,640.[18]

In March 2020, Dhesi became a member of theDefence Select Committee.[17]He stepped down from the committee in May 2020 following his appointment ⁹as Shadow Minister for Railways.

He supportedLisa Nandyin the2020 Labour Party leadership election.[19]

In 2021, Dhesi was accused of attempting to hire volunteers for long term work without pay with the job being posted on theWorking For an MPwebsite. 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 theHuffPostto confirm this.[20]

In the2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle,he was appointedShadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.[21]

At the2024 general election,Dhesi was again re-elected with a decreased vote share of 33.9% and a decreased majority of 3,647.[22]

Personal life

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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.[23][24]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.[25]

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]

References

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  1. ^"Members' Names Data Platform query".UK Parliament.Retrieved24 April2019.
  2. ^"How Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Became UK's First Turbaned Member Of Parliament".Huffington PostIndia.Retrieved9 June2017.
  3. ^"Drugs Policy – Hansard".hansard.parliament.uk.Retrieved19 February2019.
  4. ^"Tan Dhesi MP".Labour South East.Retrieved19 February2019.
  5. ^abSingh, I P (30 April 2017)."Dhesi is Labour candidate from Slough".Times of India.Retrieved9 June2017.
  6. ^abcd"Tan Dhesi MP".Labour South East.Retrieved23 May2022.
  7. ^"Tanmanjeet Singh DHESI personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK".find-and-update pany-information.service.gov.uk.Retrieved23 May2022.
  8. ^ab"About".Tan Dhesi.Retrieved23 May2022.
  9. ^Mistry, Rahul."The Mayor".Gravesham Borough Council.Retrieved23 May2022.
  10. ^"The Register of Members' Financial Interests".UK Parliament.5 November 2019.Retrieved5 December2022.
  11. ^"Election Data 2015".Electoral Calculus.Archived fromthe originalon 17 October 2015.Retrieved17 October2015.
  12. ^"GRAVESHAM 2015".electionresults.blogspot.co.uk.
  13. ^"General election 2017: Slough candidates formally announced as deadline passes".Slough Observer.12 May 2017.
  14. ^"Slough parliamentary constituency – Election 2017"– via bbc.co.uk.
  15. ^Basu, Indrani (9 June 2017)."How Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Became UK's First Turbaned Sikh Member Of Parliament".Huffington Post India.Retrieved9 June2017.
  16. ^Matthews, Luke (18 July 2017)."Slough MP Tan Dhesi praised for maiden speech in parliament".Slough Express.Retrieved4 September2019.
  17. ^ab"Parliamentary career for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament".members.parliament.uk.Retrieved31 May2020.
  18. ^"Slough Parliamentary constituency".BBC News.BBC.Retrieved27 November2019.
  19. ^"Here are the 23 MPs backing Wigan's Lisa Nandy in the Labour Party leadership contest".wigantoday.net.Retrieved9 February2020.
  20. ^"Labour Shadow Minister Tried To Recruit Unpaid Volunteers To Work In His Office" Long Term "".HuffPost UK.29 April 2021.Retrieved5 December2022.
  21. ^Belger, Tom (5 September 2023)."Labour reshuffle: Starmer unveils six new shadow ministers of state".LabourList.Retrieved6 September2023.
  22. ^"Slough Parliamentary constituency".BBC News.BBC.Retrieved10 July2024.
  23. ^"Mayor of Gravesham embroiled in mother's jailing for kidnap".Kentonline.co.uk. 12 April 2012.Retrieved9 June2017.
  24. ^"UK polls: Harpreet Kaur case convict's son in fray | chandigarh".Hindustan Times. 22 April 2016.Retrieved9 June2017.
  25. ^"yespunjab".4 December 2018. Archived fromthe originalon 8 April 2019.Retrieved15 December2018.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related toTanmanjeet Singh.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament forSlough
2017–present 		Incumbent
Preceded by Parliamentary Private Secretaryto theLeader of the Opposition
2020 		Succeeded by
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