The Lord Sharma | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2021 | |
| President for COP26[a] | |
| In office 13 February 2020 – 20 November 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy | |
| In office 13 February 2020 – 8 January 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Andrea Leadsom |
| Succeeded by | Kwasi Kwarteng |
| Secretary of State for International Development | |
| In office 24 July 2019 – 13 February 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Rory Stewart |
| Succeeded by | Anne-Marie Trevelyan |
| Minister of State for Employment | |
| In office 9 January 2018 – 24 July 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Damian Hinds |
| Succeeded by | Mims Davies |
| Minister of State for Housing | |
| In office 14 June 2017 – 9 January 2018 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Gavin Barwell |
| Succeeded by | Dominic Raab |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific | |
| In office 17 July 2016 – 13 June 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | James Duddridge |
| Succeeded by | Mark Field |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 20 August 2024 Life peerage | |
| Member of Parliament forReading West | |
| In office 6 May 2010 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Martin Salter |
| Succeeded by | Olivia Bailey (Reading West and Mid Berkshire[b]) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1967-09-07)7 September 1967 (age 58) Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence(s) | Caversham,Berkshire, England |
| Alma mater | University of Salford (BSc) |
Alok Kumar Sharma, Baron Sharma (born 7 September 1967),[4] is a British politician. A member of theConservative Party, he served asPresident for COP26 from 2021 to 2022, having previously served asSecretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2020 to 2021 andSecretary of State for International Development from 2019 to 2020. He was theMember of Parliament (MP) forReading West from 2010 to 2024 and has been a member of theHouse of Lords since 2024.
Sharma served inTheresa May's government asMinister of State for Housing from 2017 to 2018 and asParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment from 2018 to 2019. Sharma was the president for the2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) and negotiated theGlasgow Climate Pact.[5][6]
Sharma was born inAgra,Uttar Pradesh, India, and moved toReading with his parents when he was five years old. He is aHindu.[7][8] His father, Prem, was involved in Conservative politics in Reading, and became chairman of theBerkshire area of Conservatives before helping to establish theConservative Friends of India.[9]
Sharma was brought up inEarley andWhitley Wood and was educated at bothPresentation College andReading Blue Coat School inSonning,[10] before studying at theUniversity of Salford, from where he graduated with a BSc inApplied Physics withElectronics in 1988.[11]
He subsequently qualified as achartered accountant, training withDeloitte Haskins & Sells inManchester before moving into corporate finance advisory withNikko Securities and thenSkandinaviska Enskilda Banken, where he held senior roles based in London,Stockholm andFrankfurt.[12] Sharma was an adviser to clients in the corporate andprivate-equity sector on cross-bordermergers and acquisitions, listings and restructurings.[13]
Sharma is agovernor of a local primary school in Reading. Previously he served as a chairman of the political think-tank theBow Group's Economic Affairs Committee.
Sharma was selected as theConservative Party candidate for theReading West constituency in 2006.[9] He was elected as the MP for Reading West in the2010 general election, winning a majority of 6,004 after the retirement of theLabour MPMartin Salter.
In the2015 general election he was re-elected with an increased majority of 6,650.[14]
In the2017 general election, he won his seat with a reduced majority of 2,876.[14] On being re-elected, Sharma wrote on his website: "Having grown up locally inReading and being very much a local Reading man, I am delighted to have been re-elected for a constituency in my home town".[15]
In the2019 general election Sharma increased his majority to 4,117.[14]
On 26 September 2023, Sharma announced his intention to stand down at the2024 general election.[16]
Sharma served as a member of theScience and Technology Select Committee between July 2010 and February 2011[17] and theTreasury Select Committee between September 2014 and March 2015.[18]
Sharma was Conservative Party Vice-Chairman for Candidates from 2012 to 2015[19] and co-chairman of Conservative Friends of India in 2014.[20]
In September 2011, Sharma was appointedParliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) toMark Hoban, the thenFinancial Secretary to the Treasury.[21] 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.[22] He also served as PPS toSir Oliver Letwin, the formerChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who had overall responsibility for theCabinet Office.
Following the death of two cyclists inPurley on Thames, Sharma campaigned in 2014 for longer prison sentences for those convicted of death by dangerous driving.[23] Sharma initiated a Parliamentary debate on the issue[24] and backed a petition, started by the families of victims, which gained more than 55,000 signatures.[25][26]
Sharma campaigned to reduce the number of first-class carriages on trains operating on theGreat Western route between Reading and London. In January 2015, he held a meeting with Rail MinisterClaire Perry andFirst Great Western managing director Mark Hopwood to discuss proposals to increase Standard Class capacity to reduce overcrowding.[27]
In 2016, Sharma was appointed as the Prime Minister's "Infrastructure Envoy to India"[12] and was a key member of the UK team responsible for ensuring that the first ever "masala" or rupee-denominated bond, issued outside of India by an Indian company, was listed on the London Stock Exchange, strengthening further London's position as a pre-eminent world financial centre.[28][29][30]
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Sharma wasParliamentary Under Secretary of State at theForeign and Commonwealth Office from July 2016 to June 2017.[31]
In June 2017 he was appointedHousing Minister, replacingGavin Barwell, who lost his seat in the2017 general election.[32]
As the Minister of State for Housing, Sharma was responsible for the Government's response to theGrenfell Tower fire. He attracted media attention when he was visibly moved while making a statement to the House of Commons on 5 July 2017.[33][34]
In January 2018, he became theMinister of State for Employment.[35]
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Sharma was appointedSecretary of State for International Development byBoris Johnson following the resignation ofRory 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 theUnited Kingdom's aid is tackling global challenges that affect us all".[36]
During his time at the Department, Sharma set up the International Development Infrastructure Commission, which set out recommendations on boosting private capital investment into sustainable infrastructure.[37][38]
In October, Sharma stated he wanted to use the United Kingdom's leverage over theWorld Bank to focus the use of the nineteenthInternational Development Association fund on fightingclimate change, buildingsustainable economies and promotingwomen's rights.[39]
Following the dismissal ofAndrea Leadsom in the2020 cabinet reshuffle, Sharma was appointed to the position ofSecretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, taking office on 13 February.
As Secretary of State, Sharma was one of the government's speakers at the dailycoronavirus pandemic briefings from Downing Street.
In April 2020, Sharma led the Department's response to support businesses and jobs during theCoronavirus pandemic and chaired the UK Vaccine Taskforce's Ministerial Investment Panel.[40][41][42]
In June 2020, he appeared visibly unwell while delivering a statement in the House of Commons.[43] Although he underwent a test forCOVID-19 which came back negative, the situation led to questions being raised about the government's decision to end the use of thevirtual parliament and make MPs return to the House of Commons chamber. Certain employees of theDepartment for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy were advised not to return to their work by thePublic and Commercial Services Union, who said that there was a lack of evidence that the department had provided enough preventative measures against the virus.[44]
In July 2020, Sharma instructed officials to purchase half ofOneWeb, a satellite communications company, for$500 million.[45] The company was purchased fromChapter 11 bankruptcy by the United Kingdom's government andBharti Enterprises.
In November 2020, Sharma led on thePrime Minister's 10-point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution[46][47] and an Energy White Paper.[48][49]
With the help ofLord Callanan, Sharma introduced theNational Security and Investment Act 2021 to Parliament.[50]
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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 the2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26),[51] following the dismissal ofClaire 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.[5] TheGlasgow Climate Pact was negotiated at the conference under Sharma's Presidency.[52]
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.[53] He moved to theCabinet Office and retained his status as a full member of the cabinet.[54] Sharma formally served as aMinister of State in the Cabinet Office.[55]
Amid theJuly 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, Sharma threatened to resign if the winning candidate did not remain committed to the UK'snet zero targets.[56] He was reappointed to his role by theTruss ministry on 6 September 2022.[57] Upon the appointment ofRishi Sunak as Prime Minister, Sharma retained the Presidency for COP26 but was removed from cabinet.[1] Sharma left office on 20 November 2022 following the closing plenary ofCOP27 held inSharm El Sheikh,Egypt.[58]
Sharma was appointedKnight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the2023 New Year Honours for services to tackling climate change.[59]
After standing down as an MP, Sharma was nominated for alife peerage in the2024 Dissolution Honours.[60][61][62] He was createdBaron Sharma, of Reading in the Royal County of Berkshire, on 20 August 2024.[63]
Sharma was awarded a Fellowship of theScience Museum Group in recognition of his leadership as the President ofCOP26.[64][65]
Sharma is also a Visiting Fellow at theUniversity of Oxford[66] and a Climate and Finance Fellow & Co-Chair of theRockefeller Foundation's Climate Advisory Council.[67][68]
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Sharma supported the opening in his Reading West constituency of one of the firstfree schools in England: All Saints Junior School opened in September 2011 and received an 'outstanding' rating in its firstOfsted report.[69]
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.[70][71]
Sharma has been a vocal supporter of the expansion ofHeathrow Airport 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".[72][73] This is despite opposition in his own constituency. In 2009 he had opposed the third runway for the environmentally 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.[74]
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Sharma set up the East West Leaders' Forum, a discussion forum between business leaders, to promote dialogue between theEuropean Union,India andChina.Theresa May, thenHome Secretary, gave the keynote speech at the inaugural event, held in London in September 2014.[75][76]
Sharma supported the United Kingdom remaining within the European Union prior to the2016 referendum.[77] He backed Prime Minister Theresa May'sBrexit withdrawal agreement in early 2019,[78] and subsequently supported Prime Minister Boris Johnson's withdrawal agreement in October 2019.[79]
Sharma is married and lives inCaversham, Reading, with his wife and two daughters.[10] His wife is Swedish.[80][81] Sharma took his oath in the House of Commons on theBhagavad Gita in 2019.[82]
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forReading West 2010–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific 2016–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Housing and Planning 2017–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Employment 2018–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for International Development 2019–2020 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 2020–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Gentlemen Baron Sharma | Followed by |
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