Kuldip Singh Sahota, Baron Sahota (born 2 May 1951), is a British Labour Party 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

. Sahota was born in India of Sikh Punjabi 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 in

Telford Telford () is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern b ...

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

Telford and Wrekin Council Telford and Wrekin Council is the local authority of Telford and Wrekin in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It was founded in 1974 as The Wrekin District Council, and was a lower-tier district council until 1998. The district was r ...

, serving from 2001 to 2023. He served as the leader of the council between 2011 and 2016. Sahota stood as the Labour Party candidate for

at the 2017 general election, losing to

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

incumbent Lucy Allan by a narrow margin of 720 votes. He was then the Labour candidate for

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

at the 2019 general election. In November 2019, at a hustings held in

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

, Conservative candidate and incumbent MP Philip Dunne told Sahota that he was "talking through his

turban A turban (from Persian language, Persian دولبند‌, ''dolband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Commun ...

". Sahota came third in the election, which was won by Dunne with 64.1% of the vote. In 2021 it was reported that Sahota was on the shortlist to be Labour candidate at the North Shropshire by-election, but in fact had not actually applied. In October 2022, it was announced that he would receive a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

in the 2022 Special Honours. On 2 November 2022, he was created ''Baron Sahota, of

in the County of

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

''. Sahota is married to Sukhi and has two sons. He assists in his wife's restaurant business. They live in

Ketley Ketley is a large village and civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin of Shropshire, England. It is located between the outlying towns of Oakengates, Telford and Wellington. Residential development East Ketley is currently being r ...

, Telford. In 2019 he wrote and produced a film documentary taking an in-depth look into the

Amritsar Massacre The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (), also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, during the annual Baisakhi fair to protest against the ...

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 people of Punjabi descent Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom 1951 births {{life-peer-stub