Minister of State for
Employment
In January 2018, Sharma became the
Minister of State for Employment.
Personal Life
Sharma is married to a Swedish
woman and currently lives in
Caversham with his wife and two
daughters.
Sharma Backing Multiple
Campaigns
1.
Sharma backed the opening of one
of the first free schools in England’
in his Reading West constituency.
All Saints Junior School opened in
September 2011 and received an
“Outstanding” rating in its first Ofsted
report.
Sharma has also been appointed a
patron of the Wren School, a new
secondary Free School opening in west
Reading in September 2015. Sharma
backed the West Reading Education
Network in getting the new school
approved and is helping the school to
find an appropriate permanent site.
2.
Sharma has been a vocal supporter
of the expansion of Heathrow Airport
and has expressed his support
to increase the number of airport
runways in the South East of England,
claiming that “a lack of hub capacity is
costing the UK jobs and investment.”
This is despite opposition in his own
constituency; in 2009 he said: “The
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.”
3.
As a result of the death of two
cyclists in Purley, Sharma has
campaigned for longer prison
sentences for those convicted of death
by dangerous driving. He initiated a
Parliamentary debate on the issue
and backed a petition, started by the
families of victims, which gained more
than 55,000 signatures.
4.
Sharma has campaigned to cut
down the number of first-class carriages
on trains operating on the Great
Western route between Reading and
London. In January 2015, he conducted
a meeting with Rail Minister Claire Perry
and First Great Western managing
director Mark Hopwood to talk about
proposals to increase Standard Class
capacity to reduce overcrowding.
5.
In February 2014 Sharma poured
scorn on Labour leader Ed Miliband
during the latter’s visit to Purley which
had been severely affected by flooding.
Sharma claimed that the visit was just a
photo opportunity for Miliband. Miliband
responded by saying that he had come
‘for the people of your constituency’.
6.
Sharma constituted the East West
Leaders’ Forum, a discussion forum
between business leaders, in order to
promote dialogue between Europe,
India, and China. Then Home Secretary
Theresa May gave the keynote speech
at the inaugural event which took place
in London in September 2014.
7.
Prior to the 2016 referendum,
Sharma was opposed to Brexit.
SEPTEMBER 2019 | WWW.WISHESH.NET