Boris Johnson, the journalist turned politician rose to the pinnacle of power riding on the Brexit wave. But he was forced to announce his resignation earlier this month. Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak has everything to do with Johnson’s resignation. After the resignation of Johnson, Sunak is all set to become the first Indian to rule the UK and lead a British political party. However, Sunak is not the only one. There are many who have led India to increase its dominance over Britain.
Indians dominating British economy
One cannot help but notice the rise of the Indian diaspora in Britain, where men and women of Indian descent have secured important positions of power. Indians or People of Indian origin are between 1.5 to 2.5 per cent of the United Kingdom’s population, depending on how one calculates. Irrespective of their population, Indians are quite influential in United Kingdom’s business community.
In 2015, the then India’s High commissioner to the United Kingdom, Navtej Sarna said that Indian diaspora is an asset for India-UK relations. He also argued that Indians punch at least three times above their weight, and contribute 6 per cent to the UK’s GDP with 1.8 per cent of the population.
Do you know who tops the ‘Sunday Times UK Rich’ list? Well, it is the Indian-origin Hinduja brothers , whose estimated wealth is around GBP 28.472 billion. Apart from Hinduja brothers, steelmaker Lakshmi Niwas Mittal is on the sixth spot with a wealth estimated to be around 17 billion pounds.
Vedanta Group founder and chairperson Anil Agarwal is on the 16th spot with a wealth of 9.2 billion pounds. Moreover, Biocon founder and executive chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and her family have also been placed in the list with an estimated wealth of 2.5 billion pounds. The list is long and goes on forever.
Indians dominating British politics
Do you know what is required to stand for election to any political office? Well, a citizenship of a Commonwealth Nation and indefinite leave to stay in the UK. In the 19th century, there was only one Indian as a Member of Parliament, and that was Naoroji who contested the 1892 parliamentary elections from Central Finsbury.
Despite losing the re-elections 3 years later, Naoroji became the first non-white member of the British parliament. Moving forward to 2022, the rise of Indian dominance in British politics needs no introduction. Until last week, Indian politicians in Britain included two members of the four Great Offices of State, the COP26 President, 15 members of the House of Commons and 25 peers in the House of Lords.
During the 2015 parliamentary elections, the number of Indian voters was estimated at 615,000. 95 per cent of them cast their votes. Such was the importance that even the political parties began paying attention to them.
Rising dominance of Indians in Britain
It is pertinent to note that Indians have been staunch supporters of Labour Party and British Indian Hindus are discovering more common ground with the Conservative party. This is the reason behind support for Sunak but there are also factors too.
Indian immigrants are wealthier today than ever. Sunak was too born into a wealthy family, was educated in an Ivy League University and raised with domestic help. He is far more relatable to the rich British Indians of today. Sunak is thus the frontrunner for the position of Prime Minister.
The people of Indian origin register exponential rise in any country with democratic polity like United States, United Kingdom, or Canada. Since UK is a democracy, Indians are becoming more active in politics and leadership roles in Britain. It is thus safe to say that Indians have come a long way from being a colony to the one dominating Britain’s economy and politics too.
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