Ashok Kumar (28 May 1956 – 15 March 2010) was a British
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
politician who served as
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland from
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
until his death shortly before the
2010 general election.
Early life
Kumar was born in
Haridwar
Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district.
The city is situated on the righ ...
,
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, to Jagat Ram Saini and Santosh Kumari, who emigrated to
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
when Kumar was twelve years of age. He attended
Rykneld Secondary Modern School
Rykneld Secondary Modern School was a secondary modern school for boys on St Albans Road Derby. It merged with Bemrose School in 1975, and admitted girls, becoming a comprehensive school. The single-storey brick building had a prominent clock t ...
in Derby and left aged 15 to study for
O-level
The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...
s at
Wilmorton College
Wilmorton is a suburb of the city of Derby, England. It is situated between Alvaston and Osmaston, to the south of the city centre on the A6 from Deadman's Lane to the Canal Bridge; the former is aligned to the old town boundary and named from ...
, before attending
Derby & District College of Art & Technology for his A-Levels. He then studied
chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...
at
Aston University
Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public research university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first c ...
in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
where he was awarded a BSc in 1978, and an MSc in Process Analysis and Control Theory in 1980, and a PhD in
Fluid Mechanics
Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids ( liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them.
It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and bio ...
in 1982. The thesis title was ''Velocity distributions in a
plate heat exchanger A plate heat exchanger is a type of heat exchanger that uses metal plates to transfer heat between two fluids. This has a major advantage over a conventional heat exchanger in that the fluids are exposed to a much larger surface area because the fl ...
''. He was a Fellow of the
Institution of Chemical Engineers
The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is a global professional engineering institution with over 33,000 members worldwide. It was founded in 1922 and awarded a Royal Charter in 1957.
It has offices in Rugby, London, Melbourne, Wellingto ...
, a
Chartered Engineer
Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thro ...
and a Member of the
Energy Institute
The Energy Institute (EI) is a professional organization for engineers and other professionals in energy-related fields. The EI was formed in 2003 by the merger of the Institute of Petroleum (dating back to 1913) and the Institute of Energy (d ...
. Kumar was a Research Fellow at
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
(1982–5) and worked as a research scientist for
British Steel Corporation
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
in
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
from 1985 to 1997.
Political career
He began his political career as a local
councillor
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
for
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
Borough Council
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
(1987–97). He became the MP for
Langbaurgh at the
1991 Langbaurgh by-election defeating
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
candidate
Michael Bates, but lost the seat to Bates in the
1992 election. He won
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland at the
1997 election, again defeating Bates, and held it until his death in 2010.
He was a Member of the
Parliamentary and Scientific Committee
The UK Parliamentary and Scientific Committee (P&SC) is a United Kingdom parliamentary organization established in 1939. It is an all-party parliamentary group.
Overview
The P&SC provides a forum for scientific and technological issues in the UK. ...
; Vice-Chair of Parliamentary Group for Energy Studies; Chair of the
Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology
The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) is the Parliament of the United Kingdom's in-house source of independent, balanced and accessible analysis of public policy issues related to science and technology. POST serves both Hous ...
(POST); and Chair of Northern Group of Labour MPs.
In June 2010 IChemE (the Institution of Chemical Engineers) and NEPIC (the
Northeast of England Process Industry Cluster
The North East of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) is an economic cluster created following the industrial cluster ideas and strategy of Michael Porter. This Process Industry Cluster has been created by the chemistry using industries ...
) launched the Ashok Kumar fellowship at POST in memory of Kumar. The annual fellowship will see the successful candidate spend three months at the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST). By 2017 the 6th Ashok Kumar Fellow had been appointed to work with POST she was a postgraduate engineering student, Erin Johnson, from Imperial College, London.
Ashok Kumar MP was a supporter of industrial engagement and the concepts of
economic clusters. He regularly chaired the NEPIC MP/Industry meetings and contributed to the growth and innovation agenda of the Cluster. Tributes for his work came after his untimely death.
Personal life
Ashok Kumar was a Distinguished Supporter of the
British Humanist Association
Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious b ...
.
Of Hindu and Sikh descent, he described himself as a lifelong "liberal humanist".
Aston University
Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public research university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first c ...
gave him an honorary degree in July 1997.
Kumar never married. He lived in
Marton, Middlesbrough
Marton (officially Marton-in-Cleveland) is an area of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Until the 1950s, it was a small village next to the hamlet of Tollesby in Yorkshire's North Riding.
The Marton parish originally stretched north to ...
.
Death
Kumar was found dead by police in his constituency home in Canberra Road, Marton, on 15 March 2010. Police announced that he had died from
natural causes
In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...
.
References
External links
Personal websiteTheyWorkForYou.com – Ashok Kumar MPBBC Politics
The Ashok Kumar Fellowship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Ashok
1956 births
2010 deaths
20th-century English scientists
Alumni of Aston University
Alumni of the University of Derby
British politicians of Indian descent
British chemical engineers
Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union-sponsored MPs
English humanists
English socialists
Councillors in North East England
Indian emigrants to England
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
People from Derby
UK MPs 1987–1992
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
20th-century British engineers