Alok Sharma (born 7 September 1967) is a British

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

who served as the

President for COP26 The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The ...

from 2021-2022. Resigning his previous position as

Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy The secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The incumbent is a memb ...

in order to lead COP26, he retained full

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

status from January 2021 to October 2022 as

Minister of State for the Cabinet Office The Minister for the Cabinet Office is a position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The minister is responsible for the work and policies of the Cabinet Office, and since February 2022, reports to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lanc ...

. Sharma has been the

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 ...

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 o ...

(MP) for Reading West since

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. Sharma served in

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

's government as Minister of State for Housing from 2017 to 2018 and as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment from 2018 to 2019. In 2019, he was appointed to

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as ...

's cabinet as

Secretary of State for International Development The minister of state for development and Africa, formerly the minister of state for development and the secretary of state for international development, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The of ...

. In the 2020 cabinet reshuffle he was promoted to being

secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy The secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The incumbent is a memb ...

, an office in which he served until 2021. Sharma was the President of the

2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The ...

(COP26) and negotiated the

Glasgow Climate Pact The Glasgow Climate Pact is an agreement reached at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). The pact is the first climate agreement explicitly planning to reduce unabated coal usage. A pledge to "phase out" coal was changed ...

Early life and career

Sharma was born in

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra ...

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 195 ...

, India, and moved to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

with his parents when he was five years old. He had a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

upbringing. His father, Prem, was involved in Conservative politics in Reading, and became chairman of the

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

area of Conservatives before helping to establish the

Conservative Friends of India The Conservative Friends of India is linked to the Conservative Party in the UK, and is a membership organization which engages with the British Indian community and played a significant role in the Conservative campaign in the 2019 general electi ...

. Sharma was brought up in the Reading suburbs of Earley and Whitley Wood and attended Presentation College,

Reading Blue Coat School ('Truth Conquers All) , established = , closed = , type = Independent day school Public school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_lab ...

Sonning Sonning is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, on the River Thames, east of Reading. The village was described by Jerome K. Jerome in his book ''Three Men in a Boat'' as "the most fairy-like little nook on the whole river". Geo ...

and the

University of Salford , caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford , mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things" , established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...

, from where he graduated with a BSc in

Applied Physics Applied physics is the application of physics to solve scientific or engineering problems. It is usually considered to be a bridge or a connection between physics and engineering. "Applied" is distinguished from "pure" by a subtle combination ...

with

Electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

in 1988. He subsequently qualified as a chartered accountant, training with

Deloitte Haskins & Sells Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of professi ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

before moving into corporate finance advisory with Nikko Securities and then the Swedish

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (, abbreviated SEB, is a northern European financial services group headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In Sweden and the Baltic countries, SEB has a full financial service offering. In Denmark, Finland, Norway, ...

, where he held senior roles based in London,

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

and

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

. Sharma was an adviser to clients in the corporate and private-equity sector on cross-border

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspec ...

, listings and restructurings. Sharma is a

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of a local primary school in Reading. Previously he served as a chairman of the political think-tank the Bow Group's Economic Affairs Committee.

Political career

Member of Parliament

Sharma was selected as the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

candidate for the Reading West constituency in 2006. He was elected as the MP for Reading West in the 2010 general election, winning a majority of 6,004 after the retirement of the Labour MP

Martin Salter Martin John Salter (born 19 April 1954) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Reading West from 1997 to 2010. Early life and career Born to Ray and Naomi Salter in Hampton, Middlesex, he received a gramma ...

. In the 2015 general election he was re-elected with an increased majority of 6,650. In the 2017 general election, he won his seat with a reduced majority of 2,876. On being re-elected, Sharma wrote on his website: "Having grown up locally in

and being very much a local Reading man, I am delighted to have been re-elected for a constituency in my home town". In the 2019 general election Sharma increased his majority to 4,117.

Early parliamentary career (2010–2016)

Sharma served as a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee between July 2010 and February 2011 and the Treasury Select Committee between September 2014 and March 2015. Sharma was Conservative Party Vice-Chairman from 2012 to 2015 and co-chairman of Conservative Friends of India in 2014. In September 2011, Sharma was appointed

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the ...

(PPS) to Mark Hoban, the then

Financial Secretary to the Treasury The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Excheq ...

. During his time as a PPS, Sharma sat on a number of public bill committees including two finance bills, the 2013 Banking Reform Bill and the 2011 Pensions Bill. He also served as PPS to Sir Oliver Letwin, the former

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...

, who had overall responsibility for the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government object ...

. Following the death of two cyclists in Purley on Thames, Sharma campaigned in 2014 for longer prison sentences for those convicted of death by dangerous driving. Sharma initiated a Parliamentary debate on the issue and backed a petition, started by the families of victims, which gained more than 55,000 signatures. Sharma campaigned to reduce the number of first-class carriages on trains operating on the Great Western route between Reading and London. In January 2015, he held a meeting with Rail Minister Claire Perry and

First Great Western Great Western Railway (GWR) is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Junior minister (2016–2019)

45 years of UK-China ambassadorial relations (32882421224)

Sharma 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 ...

at the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...

from July 2016 to June 2017. In June 2017 he was appointed

Housing Minister A Housing minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for Housing Policy. Country-related articles and lists * Australia: Minister for Housing ** Victoria: Minister for Housing ** Western Australia: Minister fo ...

, replacing

Gavin Barwell Gavin Laurence Barwell, Baron Barwell (born 23 January 1972) is a British politician and former Downing Street Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Theresa May. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament for Croydon Cent ...

, who lost his seat in the 2017 general election. As the Minister of State for Housing, Sharma was responsible for the Government's response to the

Grenfell Tower fire On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. 72 people died, two later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 esca ...

. He attracted media attention when he was visibly moved while making a statement to the House of Commons on 5 July 2017. In January 2018, he became the

Minister of State for Employment The Minister of State for Employment is a mid-level position in the Department for Work and Pensions in the British government. History The office was previously held by Julie Marson following the resignation of Mims Davies on 6 July 2022. R ...

Secretary of State for International Development (2019–2020)

Sharma was appointed

following the resignation of Rory Stewart in July 2019. Upon assuming the role, he said: "I am delighted... We will work across the whole of government to deliver Brexit and make sure the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

's aid is tackling global challenges that affect us all". In October, Sharma stated he wanted to use the United Kingdom's leverage over the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

to focus the use of the nineteenth

International Development Association The International Development Association (IDA) (french: link=no, Association internationale de développement) is an international financial institution which offers concessional loans and grants to the world's poorest developing countries. ...

fund on fighting

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

, building

sustainable Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

economies and promoting

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countri ...

Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2020–2021)

Following the dismissal of

Andrea Leadsom Dame Andrea Jacqueline Leadsom (; ' Salmon; born 13 May 1963) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for South Northamptonshire since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Secretary of State for Enviro ...

in the 2020 cabinet reshuffle, Sharma was appointed to the position of

, taking office on 13 February. As Secretary of State, Sharma was one of the government's speakers at the daily coronavirus pandemic briefings from Downing Street. In June 2020, he appeared visibly unwell while delivering a statement in the House of Commons. Although he underwent a test for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

which came back negative, the situation led to questions being raised about the government's decision to end the use of the virtual parliament and make MPs return to the House of Commons chamber. Certain employees of the

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is a department of His Majesty's Government. The department was formed during a machinery of government change on 14 July 2016, following Theresa May's appointment as Prim ...

were advised not to return to their work by the Public and Commercial Services Union, who said that there was a lack of evidence that the department had provided enough preventative measures against the virus. In July 2020, Sharma instructed officials to purchase half of

OneWeb OneWeb (legally Network Access Associates Ltd) is a communications company that aims to build broadband satellite Internet services. The company is headquartered in London, and has offices in Virginia, US and a satellite manufacturing facility ...

, a satellite communications company, for $500 million. The company was purchased from

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

by the United Kingdom's government and

Bharti Enterprises Bharti Enterprises is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Delhi. It was founded in 1976 by Sunil Mittal. Bharti Enterprises owns businesses spanning across manufacturing, telecommunications, agribusiness, real estate, ...

. With the help of

Lord Callanan Martin John Callanan, Baron Callanan (born 8 August 1961) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North East England from 1999 to 2014 and Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reform ...

, Sharma introduced the National Security and Investment Act 2021 to Parliament.

President for COP26 (2021–2022)

In addition to his appointment as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 13 February 2020, Sharma was also appointed President of the

(COP26), following the dismissal of Claire Perry O'Neill in January 2020. At that time the conference was planned for November 2020; in May 2020 it was rearranged for November 2021. The

was negotiated at the conference under Sharma's Presidency. On 8 January 2021, Sharma left his position as Secretary of State to become President of COP26 on a full-time basis, and chair of the Climate Action Implementation Committee. He moved to the

and retained his status as a full member of the cabinet. Sharma formally serves as a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...

in the Cabinet Office. Amid the

July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the fourth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., it being the mont ...

, Sharma threatened to resign if the winning candidate did not remain committed to the UK's

net zero Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the " ...

targets. He was reappointed to his role by the Truss ministry on 6 September 2022. Upon the appointment of

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, lastly as ...

as Prime Minister, Sharma retained the Presidency for COP26 but was removed from cabinet.

Political positions

Free schools

Sharma supported the opening in his Reading West constituency of one of the first free schools in England: All Saints Junior School opened in September 2011 and received an 'outstanding' rating in its first

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, incl ...

report. Sharma has also been appointed a patron of the Wren School, a new secondary free school opening in west Reading in September 2015. Sharma supported the West Reading Education Network in getting the new school approved and is helping the school to find an appropriate permanent site.

Heathrow Airport

Sharma has been a vocal supporter of the expansion of

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

and has spoken in support of increasing the number of airport runways in the South East of England, claiming that "a lack of hub capacity is costing the United Kingdom jobs and investment". This is despite opposition in his own constituency. In 2009 he had opposed the third runway for the envionmentally unsustainable way it was being planned and had said: "A third runway at Heathrow would inflict huge damage to the environment and to the quality of life of millions of people. It is time for the government to abandon its plans for a third runway and, if a conservative government is elected, we will certainly stop this environmental disaster". He has argued that the expansion needs to be environmentally sustainable.

East West Leaders' Forum

Sharma set up the East West Leaders' Forum, a discussion forum between business leaders, to promote dialogue between the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, then

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all nationa ...

, gave the keynote speech at the inaugural event, held in London in September 2014.

Brexit

Sharma supported the United Kingdom remaining within the European Union prior to the 2016 referendum. He backed Prime Minister Theresa May's

Brexit withdrawal agreement The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Uni ...

in early 2019, and subsequently supported Prime Minister Boris Johnson's withdrawal agreement in October 2019.

Personal life

Sharma is married and lives in Caversham, Reading, with his wife and two daughters. His wife is Swedish. Sharma took his oath in the House of Commons on the ''

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' ( ...

'' in 2019.

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Alok 1967 births Living people People from Agra People educated at Reading Blue Coat School Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of Salford British politicians of Indian descent Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Reading Ministers of State for Housing (UK) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present