55-year-old Alok Sharma moved to the UK with his parents when he was five years old.
Born in Agra, Alok Sharma moved to the UK with his parents aged 5. Five decades on, he was conferred with the title ‘Sir’ by the UK’s monarch. Sharma was knighted by King Charles III as part of the New Year honours list, which had as many as 30 Indian-origin people.
A CA by education and a former minister of the UK, Sharma received knighthood for his contribution in the fight against climate change by leading the COP26 summit. Sharma served as President for COP26 from 2021-2022. The Glasgow Pact was negotiated under his leadership.
He was a Cabinet-level minister in the UK till as recently as October. Sharma received the honours in elite company alongside several economists, medics, academics, campaigners and philanthropists with overseas origin.
Who is Sir Alok Sharma?
55-year-old Alok Kumar Sharma was born in Agra in 1967. At the tender age of 5, he landed in Reading as his parents moved to the UK. Sharma reportedly had a Hindu upbringing. His father Prem was an active local politician in Reading and went on to become the chairman of the Berkshire area of Conservatives and worked for the establishment of Conservative Friends of India.
After schooling he attended the University of Salford and in 1988, he earned a B.Sc degree in Applied Physics with Electronics. Sharma also became a qualified CA and received training at Deloitte Haskins & Sells in Manchester, UK. He then worked in corporate finance advisory with Nikko Securities and Swedish Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken. He was an adviser of listings, restructurings and cross-border mergers and acquisitions.
He works as a governor of a Reading-based local primary school and has also held the chairman post at Bow Group's Economic Affairs Committee, a political think-tank. Sharma has been an MP for Conservative Party since 2010 from Reading West. He has served in governments under Prime Ministers Theresa May and Boris Johnson.
He has been a vocal campaigner on several issues including longer jail terms for those found guilty of dangerous driving leading to death, reduction of first-class carriages on trains to reduce overcrowding in standard class, free schools, airport expansion.
Sharma is married to a Swedish national and has two daughters. He took his oath in the House of Commons in 2019 on the Hindu sacred text, Bhagavad Gita.
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