Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, known as Tan, is a British Labour Party politician who has served as MP for Slough since 2017. He was appointed Shadow Minister for Railways by the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, in April 2020.
Personal life
He was born in Slough on 17 August 1978 to Indian parents. He spent his early years in Chalvey, Slough. His father Jaspal Singh Dhesi, runs a construction company in the UK and was the president of Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara, in Gravesend, Kent - the most prominent gurdwara in the country.
Dhesi attended primary school in Jalandhar, Punjab, India as a child. According to him, this move helped him strengthen his character and develop a sense of discipline. In addition, he attributes his ability to relate to South Asians worldwide to his early schooling in Punjab, as it helped him develop a strong awareness of his ethnicity. He returned to the UK when he was nine years old and continued his schooling in Gravesend. He also served as a Head Boy there.
Later he studied at three of the UK's most prestigious universities: Oxford, Cambridge, and University College London. He holds degrees in mathematics, management studies, and applied statistics. He also holds an MPhil from Cambridge.
Tanmanjeet Singh is fluent in eight languages, including Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, French, and English. Additionally, he has a working knowledge of German, Italian, and Latin.
Political Career: An Overview
Mr Dhesi spent a large portion of his life working in construction, establishing his own business in Scotland, much like his father. He was the director at Dhesi Construction Limited from July 2002 to January 2007 and DGP Logistics PLC from October 2005 to April 2011.
In 2007, he was only 28 years old when he was appointed to Gravesham Borough Council. When he was unanimously elected Mayor of Gravesham in 2011, he became Europe's youngest Sikh mayor. He has been elected as Chair of the Gravesham Labour Party twice.
Other voluntary roles whilst serving as a councillor include as a school governor at two schools, a trustee with Alzheimer and Dementia Support Services, an advisor and member of Mencap Society Charity, and an Independent Police Advisory Group member.
In the 2017 general election, he won from the Slough constituency and became Britain's first turbaned Sikh member of the British Parliament after Fiona Mactaggart stepped down.
He gave his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 18 July 2017 which was praised greatly by fellow MPs Gareth Snell and Mike Gapes.
In his speech after winning, Dhesi expressed his gratitude to his father. He said, "He has been an inspirational figure in my life, because of his strong work ethic and grit and determination and the service to the community with humility and grace."
Since July 2018, Dhesi has served on the Housing, Communities, and Local Government Committee.
In the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, he supported Lisa Nandy.
Tan Dhesi has promoted work towards community cohesion and serving the vulnerable. He says that nothing will deter him from adhering to the Sikh ethos of ‘sarbat da bhala’ (working for the betterment of all, regardless of background, colour or creed). As the first turbaned Sikh to make it to the British parliament, Dhesi is an addition to the Punjabi-origin politicians who have a rapidly expanding footprint across the globe.