Preet Gill

Preet Kaur Gill (born 21 November 1972) is a British politician serving as Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Public Health since 2023. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Edgbaston since 2017.

Preet Gill
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Public Health
Assumed office
6 September 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byFeryal Clark (Primary Care)
Andrew Gwynne (Public Health)
Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development[lower-alpha 1]
In office
6 April 2020 – 4 September 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byDan Carden
Succeeded byLisa Nandy
Member of Parliament
for Birmingham Edgbaston
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byGisela Stuart
Majority5,614 (13.3%)
Shadow portfolios
2018–2020Shadow Minister for International Development
Member of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
for St Paul's
In office
3 May 2012 – 4 May 2018
Preceded byParamjit Randhawa
Succeeded bySamiya Akhter
Personal details
Born
Preet Kaur Shergill

(1972-11-21) 21 November 1972
Edgbaston, Birmingham, England
Political partyLabour Co-op
Parent
Alma materUniversity of East London (BSc)
Websitewww.preetkaurgill.com

Early life

Preet Kaur Gill was born on 21 November 1972 in Edgbaston, Birmingham.[1][2] She was born to Indian parents Daljit Singh Shergill and Kuldeep Kaur Shergill.[1][3] Her father was a foreman, and later a bus driver, and her mother worked as a seamstress.[4][5] Daljit Singh was the longest serving president of the Guru Nanak Gurdwara Smethwick. Gill credits her father and Baron Tarsem King of West Bromwich as her main inspirations for her ambition to enter politics.[6][7]

She has six younger siblings. Her early education was at Lordswood Girls' School and Bournville College. At the latter, Gill was elected as student president.[5] Gill graduated from the University of East London with a first-class BSc in sociology with social work.[8] After graduating, she worked as a social worker in a kibbutz in Israel and with street children in India.[5] She was a social worker in Waltham Forest and Birmingham specialising in child protection and serving as children's services manager in Birmingham from 2010 to 2017.[1]

She was elected as a councillor for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council in 2012 and re-elected in the 2016 local election; her term ended May 2018. On the council, she served as the Cabinet Member for Public Health and Protection.[5][8][9]

Gill supported remaining within the European Union (EU) in the 2016 EU membership referendum.[10]

Parliamentary career

Gill was selected by the Labour Party to contest Birmingham Edgbaston on 28 April 2017.[3] Her selection followed Gisela Stuart's decision not to seek re-election.[11] In the 2017 general election, Gill held the seat for Labour with 24,124 (55.3%) votes and a majority of 6,917 (15.8%).[12][13] She is the first female British Sikh MP.[14]

In July 2017, she was elected as a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee.[13]

On 12 January 2018, she was appointed to the shadow cabinet as International Development Minister (role shared with Dan Carden).[15]

In March 2019, Gill signed a letter supporting the People's Vote campaign for a second referendum on EU membership.[16]

Gill is the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Mentoring and for British Sikhs.[17]

Gill supported Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.[18] She was promoted to Shadow Secretary of State for International Development following Starmer's election as leader.[19]

As Shadow Secretary of State, Gill initially shadowed Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan until the department was abolished in September 2020; since then she shadowed ministers of the newly created Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. She remained in the shadow cabinet following the November 2021 reshuffle, but her position was renamed Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development and she joined the new shadow Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs team.[20]

In November 2020, Gill was elected Chair of the Co-operative Party Parliamentary Group of MPs.[21]

In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle she was replaced by Lisa Nandy, and Gill became Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Public Health.[22]

Controversy

On 19 December 2021 Preet Kaur Gill, came under fire on social media over a tweet she later deleted that referred to a "Hindu terrorist" behind the act of violence at Golden Temple in Amritsar.[23][24][25]

On 23 February 2023, The Guardian reported on comments Gill made in a WhatsApp group which appeared to undermine Sikh victims of sexual violence. Earlier that month, Sikh Women's Aid had published a report which found that two thirds of women surveyed had experienced domestic abuse, with many of the women criticising the inadequate response support given by community leaders. Gill was alleged to have accused the women surveyed of using "very dangerous language" and urged them to submit apologies to gurdwaras. A Labour spokesperson stated "though we cannot comment on leaked WhatsApp messages, Preet would never downplay abuse or violence".[26]

Personal life

Gill has been married to Sureash Singh Chopra, who is a social worker, since 2009. They have two daughters.[1][5] Gill is Vice-President of the Local Government Association and a non executive director for the Spring Housing Association.[27]

Awards and nominations

In September 2018, Gill was named as one of the Birmingham City University's Brummies Who Inspire, alongside fellow Birmingham MP, Shabana Mahmood.[28]

In October 2018, she was presented with the Sikh Women of Substance award by the Sikh's Women Alliance UK.[29]

In December 2018, she was one of the recipients of the Giving Voice award, presented by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.[30]

In December 2020, Gill won the overall prize at the MP of the Year Awards organised by the Patchwork Foundation,[31] for "her consistent championing of young people, representation of the Sikh Community and initiative to tackle Fuel Poverty via a strategic campaign aimed at the UK's biggest fuel companies."[32]

Notes
  1. Shadow Secretary of State (2020–21)

References
  1. "Who's Who (online edition)". Oxford University Press. 1 December 2017. Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  2. "Preet Kaur Gill". Companies House. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  3. Walker, Jonathan (28 April 2017). "Labour selects Preet Gill as Birmingham Edgbaston candidate". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  4. Stacey, Alison (9 June 2017). "Daughter of Indian bus driver becomes UK's first female Sikh MP". Birmingham Post. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  5. Sidhu, Balvinder (6 July 2017). "'Dream big, think big': The story of Britain's first female Sikh MP". ITV News. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  6. Badshah, Nadeem (12 June 2017). "Preet Gill's reveals her father inspired her to become first female Sikh MP". Eastern Eye. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  7. Mubarak, Salva (9 June 2017). "Preet Kaur Gill is now Britain's first female Sikh MP". Elle India. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  8. "UEL graduate Preet Kaur Gill becomes first female Sikh MP". University of East London. 9 June 2017. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  9. Madeley, Pete (13 June 2017). "New MP Preet Gill set to stay on as councillor". Express & Star. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  10. Sonwalkar, Prasun (22 June 2016). "British Indian councillors want to stay in EU". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  11. "Election 2017: Which MPs are standing down, and who might be standing?". BBC News. 2 May 2017. Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  12. "Birmingham Edgbaston". BBC News. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  13. "Preet Kaur Gill MP". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 4 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  14. "Preet Gill elected as first female Sikh MP". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  15. Eden, Tom (12 January 2018). "Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn reshuffles his front bench and promotes two North East MPs". Evening Chronicle. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  16. Walker, Jonathan (8 March 2019). "Birmingham MP Preet Kaur Gill backs bid to stop Brexit". birminghammail. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  17. "Register of All-Party Parliamentary Groups" (PDF). parliament.uk. 8 November 2017. pp. 622, 770. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  18. "Preet Gill: Why I'm backing Keir Starmer for Labour leader". LabourList. 23 February 2020. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  19. Rajiv Syal (6 April 2020). "Ed Miliband returns to Labour frontbench in Keir Starmer reshuffle". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  20. Rodgers, Sienna. "Big reshuffle sees Cooper, Streeting, Lammy, Reynolds, Phillipson promoted". LabourList. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  21. Group, Preet Gill MP Chair of the Co-operative Party Parliamentary; Development, Shadow Secretary of State for International. "Preet Kaur Gill MP becomes Chair of Co-operative Party Westminster Parliamentary Group". Co-operative Party.
  22. "Lisa Nandy, Preet Kaur Gill and other Indian-origin MPs demoted in UK Opposition Labour Party reshuffle". The Telegraph (India). 5 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  23. "Tweet by UK MP on Golden Temple attack angers British Hindus, receives rebuke from Indian mission - Times of India". The Times of India. 21 December 2021.
  24. "UK MP condemns Punjab 'sacrilege' & lynchings, after blaming 'Hindu terrorist' in 'deleted tweet'". 20 December 2021.
  25. "Indian High Commission slams British MP Preet Kaur Gill over tweet on attempted sacrilege incident".
  26. Stacey, Kiran (23 February 2023). "Labour's Preet Gill accused of undermining Sikh victims of sexual violence". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  27. "Register of Members' Financial Interests as at 23 October 2017" (PDF). parliament.uk. p. 176. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 October 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  28. "BCU 175: Brummies Who Inspire". Birmingham City University. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  29. Walawalkar, Aaron (26 October 2018). "Ilford faith leader presents award to UK's first female Sikh MP". Ilford Recorder. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  30. "Preet WINS NATIONAL SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY AWARD". Preet Kaur Gill. 11 December 2018. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  31. Digital, Creative (23 October 2012). "MP of the Year Awards". Patchwork Foundation.
  32. "Preet Kaur Gill MP wins MP of the Year award for 'consistent championing of young people'". 3 December 2020.
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