Satvir Kaur is a British politician serving as Leader of

Southampton City Council Southampton City Council is the local authority of the city of Southampton. It is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local ...

since 2022. A member of the Labour Party, she has represented

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

on the City Council since 2011.

Early life and education

Kaur was born and raised in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, England. Her family owned a

sari A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std= ...

shop in the Bevois area. Kaur was educated at Mount Pleasant Juniors and St Anne’s Catholic School. She graduated with a degree in Politics from the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

, and later Law from

Solent University Solent University (formerly Southampton Solent University) is a public university based in Southampton, United Kingdom. It has approximately 10,500 students (2019/20). Its main campus is located on East Park Terrace near the city centre and th ...

Political career

At the 2011 local elections, Kaur was elected to represent

ward on

. She gained the seat from the incumbent

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 ...

, and was re-elected in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. Kaur campaigned for

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

in North Carolina, USA ahead of the 2016 presidential election. After Labour lost control of Southampton City Council in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, she was elected as leader of the Labour group. Kaur became council leader once Labour regained their majority in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

. She was the first female

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

council leader in Britain. Kaur was selected as Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for

Southampton Test Southampton Test is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Alan Whitehead, a member of the Labour Party. History The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, when the previous two ...

in July 2022. Later that year, she introduced party leader

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras ...

ahead of his speech at the

Labour Party Conference The Labour Party Conference is the annual conference of the British Labour Party. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conference season when the ...

. In December 2023, Kaur announced that she was stepping down as council leader in order to focus on campaigning for the general election.

Political views

Kaur supports establishing an investment zone in Southampton. She has spoken at an event marking the positive contribution of refugees to her city.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Satvir Kaur
at ''

LabourList LabourList is a British news website supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party, launched in 2009. Describing itself as Labour's "biggest independent grassroots e-network", the site's content includes news, commentary, interviews, campa ...

'' Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Leaders of local authorities of England Politicians from Southampton Women councillors in England Labour Party (UK) councillors 21st-century English politicians 21st-century English women politicians British Sikhs British people of Indian descent Alumni of the University of Southampton