Labour’s landslide is a triumph for Britain’s Sikhs

For years, there have been very few Sikhs – who make up around one per cent of the population of England and Wales – in the Commons. Labour’s landslide victory has changed that. Among the hundreds of new MPs are a dozen Sikh heritage MPs: more than there’s ever been in parliament’s history.

The achievements of Sikhs in British politics have historically been overshadowed by the incredible electoral success of Sikhs across the pond in Canada. It wasn’t long ago that Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau boasted to an American audience, ‘I have more Sikhs in my cabinet than Modi does’. The influx of newly-elected Sikh Labour MPs – six men and six women – goes someway to bridging that gap.

Three of the Sikh heritage Labour MPs will already be familiar faces: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) and Preet Kaur Gill (Birmingham Edgbaston) were both elected in 2017; Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) – a Corbynista, whose dad is Sikh – entered the Commons in 2019.