After UK parliament reshuffle, 3 Indian-origin MPs now part of Johnson's political inner circle
After a major reshuffle in UK Cabinet, 3 Indian origin MPs are now a part of Britain's core political think tank. Rishi Sunak, the son in law of Infosys co-founder Ramarao Narayan Murthy, on Thursday replaced Pakistan origin Chancellor Sajid Javid as the Chancellor of Exchequer (finance minister) of Uk, while Alok Sharma was appointed Business Secretary in the Cabinet.
With the appointment of these two, there are now three Indian origin MPs in UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Cabinet.
This change in guard comes just weeks before Javid was slotted to unveil the UK annual budget on March 11. Javid, who was only 8 months into his job, was all set to lay out the government's tax and spending plans but has now been replaced by 39-year-old Sunak, who is considered a close ally of Johnson.
Meanwhile, Alok Sharma, the former secretary of state for international development has been elevated to the role of secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy. 51-year-old Alok will also head the COP26, the big-ticket climate summit of the United Nations, which is due to be held in Glasgow in November this year.
Priti Patel, who was appointed as the Home Secretary by Johnson in July last year, will continue her appointment post the reshuffle, being the third Indian in the UK cabinet.
Of Gujarati origin, Patel is a controversial figure in UK politics. She advocated bringing back of the death penalty and asked for foreign aid target to be scrapped.
Under former Prime Minister Theresa May, Patel held an international development secretary portfolio but was asked to resign after a highly ill-advised freelance trip to Israel.
