Kuldip Singh Sahota, Baron Sahota (born 2 May 1951), is a British politician and

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

. A member of the Labour Party, he was a councillor for Malinslee and Dawley Bank on

Telford and Wrekin Council Telford and Wrekin Council is the local authority of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The district of Telford and Wrekin was grant ...

from 2001 to 2023, and served as the leader of the council from 2011 to 2016.Report by Sue Austin. Sahota was born in India of Sikh

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

heritage, the son of a foundry worker who emigrated to England in 1957; he joined his father in 1966. Sahota worked for 15 years at the factory of

GKN Sankey GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 an ...

in Telford before going into full-time political work and going into private business. Sahota, who had been active in his trade union at work in industry, was elected as a Labour councillor for Malinslee and Dawley Bank on

. He served as the leader of the council between 2011 and 2015. He was the Labour candidate for Ludlow at the 2019 general election. In November 2019, at a hustings held in

Church Stretton Church Stretton is a market town in Shropshire, England, south of Shrewsbury and north of Ludlow. The population in 2011 was 4,671.

, the Conservative candidate (and incumbent MP) Philip Dunne told Sahota that he was "talking through his turban". In 2021 it was reported that Sahota was on the shortlist to be Labour candidate at the

North Shropshire by-election North Shropshire by-election may refer to various parliamentary by-elections in the north of Shropshire, England: * 1843 North Shropshire by-election, following Rowland Hill's elevation to the Lords * 1848 North Shropshire by-election, following ...

, but in fact had not actually applied. In October 2022, it was announced that he would receive a life peerage in the

2022 Special Honours As part of the British honours system, Special Honours are issued at the Monarch's pleasure at any given time. The Special Honours refer to the awards made within royal prerogative, operational honours, political honours and other honours awarded ...

. On 2 November 2022, he was created ''Baron Sahota, of Telford in the County of

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

''. Sahota is married to Sukhi and has two sons. He assists in his wife's restaurant business. They live in Ketley, Telford. In 2019 he wrote and produced a film documentary taking an in-depth look into the Amritsar Massacre of 1919.

References

Living people Life peers created by Charles III Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) life peers Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates British people of Indian descent British politicians of Punjabi descent Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom {{life-peer-stub