Parmjit Dhanda
Parmjit Singh Dhanda (born
September 17,
1971) is a
British Labour Party politician. He was elected
Member of Parliament for
Gloucester in the
2001 general election, succeeding
Tess Kingham as the Labour MP for the seat. He was re-elected in
2005 general election. Parmjit Dhanda is currently
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Young People and Families in the
Department for Education and Skills.
Born in
London to Indian immigrants of
Sikh origin. His Mother was a cleaner at a local Hospital, whilst his father was a Lorry Driver. Educated at the Mellow Lane
Comprehensive School,
Hayes before attending the
University of Nottingham where he received a
Bachelor of Engineering degree in
1993, and a
MA in
information technology in
1995.
Parmjit Dhanda is married and lives with his family in
Kingsholm,
Gloucestershire. Has been a member of the
Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) since
1999, and has been a member of the
Co-operative Party since
1996. He speaks both
Punjabi and
French.
Parmjit Dhanda became a Labour Party organiser in West London,
Hampshire and
Wiltshire in
1996, then went on to be assistant national organiser with Connect in 1998 where he remained until he was elected to
Westminster. He was elected as a councillor in the
London Borough of Hillingdon in 1998 and served on the council until
2002. He was on Labour's list for the
1999 European Parliament election, but was unsuccessful. He was selected to contest the
House of Commons seat of Gloucester at the
2001 General Election following the retirement of
Tess Kingham. Parmjit Dhanda held the seat with a majority of 3,880 and has remained an MP since. He made his
maiden speech on
June 27,
2001.[
1]
In parliament, Parmjit Dhanda became a member of the
Science and
Technology Select Committee from his election until
2003. He helped setup an all-party group on
Telecommunications, of which he's a Secretary. In December,
2004 he was appointed
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Schools
Stephen Twigg.
After the
2005 General Election Parmjit Dhanda was appointed to post of
Assistant Government Whip. In May 2006 he was appointed
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Young People and Families in the
Department for Education and Skills.
In June 2006, Parmjit Dhanda became embroiled in a row over the planned closure of a children's hospital ward in Cheltenham and the transfer of its services to Gloucester. It was alleged that he had described people from Cheltenham as snobbish for their reluctance to travel to Gloucester. He accused the Gloucestershire Echo, which reported the story, as quoting him "out of context." (See [
2][
3]
*
Gloucestershire*
Gloucester *
Gloucester RFC *
Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers*
Co-operative Party *
Fabian Society*
Labour Party: Parmjit Dhanda *
Parmjit Dhanda MP Official site
*
DFES Department for Education and Skills Ministerial Team
*
epolitix : Parmjit Dhanda*
TheyWorkForYou.com - Parmjit Dhanda*
Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Parmjit Dhanda*
Young Labour -Dhanda *
Gloucestershire County Council *
BBC Gloucestershire : Parmjit Dhanda 
