Sandip Verma, Baroness Verma
Life Peerage | |
---|---|
Personal details | |
Born | Amritsar, Punjab, India | 30 June 1959
Political party | Conservative |
Sandip K. Verma, Baroness Verma (born 30 June 1959)[1] known until 1977 as Sandip K. Rana, is an Indian-British politician in the United Kingdom. An appointed member of the House of Lords, she is Ministerial Champion for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Overseas, a role who chairs the UN Women's national committee.[2] Verma was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, from 2015 to 2016.
Life
Born in Amritsar in the Indian Punjab, as a child Verma migrated with her parents to England, arriving in 1960.[3] In 1977, aged seventeen, she married Ashok Verma.[4] They have two children.[3] She is the grand-daughter of the Indian freedom fighter Ujagar Singh, who was a former leader of the Indian Workers' Association and the India League.[5]
She made her living in their high fashion business before she invested in supplying residential care. This was enabled by the Conservative party's policy of privatisation and the main customer was Leicester Council.[3]
Verma was an unsuccessful
On 2 June 2006, she was created a life peer, taking the title Baroness Verma, of Leicester in the County of Leicestershire.[7][8] The same year, she was appointed as a Patron of the Tory Reform Group.
Until the formation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition following the May 2010 general election, Verma was an Opposition Whip and Conservative Spokesperson in the House of Lords on Education and Skills and for Health. In 2010 she became a Government Whip and Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, International Development, and Equalities and Women's Issues.[9]
She was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Energy and Climate Change from 2012 to 2015, and then for International Development from May 2015 to July 2016.[10][11][12]
When the new Theresa May ministry was formed in July 2016, following the resignation of David Cameron, Verma was not included in it.
Verma was adopted as the Conservative candidate for the position of directly elected Mayor of Leicester in 2019.[13] She lost to Labour's Peter Soulsby, coming second with 14,519 votes compared to Sir Peter's 51,444 votes. Later that year she as Ministerial Champion for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Overseas, was chosen to chair the UN Women's national committee for three years.[2]
In September 2020 Verma apologised for not consulting the
University of Roehampton
In April 2022, Baroness Verma was appointed Chancellor of the University of Roehampton. She was formally invested as Chancellor in a ceremony on 18 May 2023.[15]
References
- ^ "Birthdays". The Guardian. 30 June 2014. p. 33.
- ^ a b News, Asian Lite (26 September 2018). "Baroness Verma New Chair for UN Women NC UK". Local News for British Asian and Indian Community in London. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
{{cite web}}
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has generic name (help) - ^ ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
- ^ "RANA, Sandip K, & VERMA Ashok, in Register of Marriages for Leicester C Registration District, vol. 6 (1977), p. 1900
- ^ "The India League".
- TheGuardian.com.
- ^ "No. 58004". The London Gazette. 7 June 2006. p. 7793.
- ^ House of Lords (22 June 2006). "Announcement of her introduction at the House of Lords". minutes of proceedings. Retrieved 28 October 2006.
- ^ "Baroness Verma". Archived from the original on 3 December 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
- ^ "Ministers". gov.uk.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development Baroness Verma". gov.uk.
- ^ "Sandip Verma @Baroness_Verma". Twitter.
- ^ Andrew Hill, Labour Desperate as Political Competition Heats Up Ahead of Local Elections dated March 24, 2019 at leicesterpropertyinsight.co.uk, accessed 18 April 2019
- ^ a b Syal, Rajeev (13 October 2020). "Tory peer apologises for ministerial rule breach in Uganda deals". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
- ^ "University of Roehampton appoints two prominent women's rights champions as new Chancellor and Pro Chancellor". Roehampton University. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
- "DodOnline". Retrieved 22 November 2006.