Sandip K. Verma, Baroness Verma (born 30 June 1959) known until 1977 as Sandip K. Rana, is an Indian-British politician in the United Kingdom. An appointed member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

, she is Ministerial Champion for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Overseas, a role who chairs the

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women advocates for the rights of women and girls, and foc ...

's national committee. Verma has been the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, from 2015 to 2016.

Life

Born in Amritsar in the

Indian Punjab Punjab (; ) is a state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, and ...

, as a child Verma migrated with her parents to England, arriving in 1960. In 1977, aged seventeen, she married Ashok Verma. They have two children. She is the grand-daughter of the Indian freedom fighter Ujagar Singh, who was a former leader of the

Indian Workers' Association The Indian Workers' Association (IWA) is a political organisation in Great Britain which consists of Indian immigrants to Britain and their descendants. IWA branches are organised in some major cities such as Birmingham and London. As one of ...

and the India League. 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. Verma was an unsuccessful

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 in ...

parliamentary candidate in

Kingston upon Hull East Kingston upon Hull East is a borough constituency for the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years by the first-past-the-post electoral system. The constitu ...

at the 2001 United Kingdom general election, finishing third, and in

Wolverhampton South West Wolverhampton South West is a constituency created in 1950 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Stuart Anderson of the Conservative Party. It was represented by the Conservative Party for 47 years after its ...

in the general election of 2005, coming second to the Labour incumbent,

Rob Marris Robert Howard Marris (born 8 April 1955) is a British Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South West. He first held the seat from 2001 until his defeat in 2010. He regained at the seat at th ...

. On 2 June 2006, she was created a life peer, taking the title Baroness Verma, ''of Leicester in the County of Leicestershire''. The same year, she was appointed as a Patron of the

Tory Reform Group The Tory Reform Group (TRG) is a pressure group associated with the British Conservative Party that works to promote "modern, progressive Conservatism... economic efficiency and social justice" and "a Conservatism that supports equality, divers ...

Launch of the 13th London Mela (19949299165)

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. She was

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...

in the

Department of Energy and Climate Change The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom created on 3 October 2008, by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to take over some of the functions related to energy of the Department for Busin ...

from 2012 to 2015, and then for International Development from May 2015 to July 2016. 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 The mayor of Leicester is responsible for the executive function of Leicester City Council in England. The incumbent is Peter Soulsby of the Labour Party. Background In December 2010 the Labour controlled Leicester City Council approved pla ...

in 2019.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 She lost to Labour's

Peter Soulsby Sir Peter Alfred Soulsby (born 27 December 1948) is a British Labour Party politician serving as Mayor of Leicester since 2011. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester South from 2005 until he resigned his seat in April 2011, in ...

, 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

's national committee for three years. In September 2020 Verma apologised for not consulting the

Advisory Committee on Business Appointments The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was set up in 1975 to provide advice on applications from the most senior Crown servants who wish to take up outside appointments ...

before taking a directorship in a family firm which made

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovolta ...

contracts with the controversial Government of Uganda led by General

Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...

. However, she denied any wrongdoing and stated “I am truly sorry for my misunderstanding of the rules which I accept is my failing and sincerely hope that the committee will accept my deepest regret at this failure. I would not deliberately disrespect the rules and sincerely apologise to the committee”.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verma, Sandip 1959 births Living people British politicians of Indian descent British Hindus Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Conservative Party (UK) life peers Politicians from Amritsar Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom Recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman