Sir Alok Sharma – COP26 President standing down as MP

Overview

Sir Alok Sharma was born in Agra, India, on 7th September 1967. Sharma and his family moved to Reading when he was five years.

Since 2010, Sharma has been the Conservative MP for Reading West. He served in junior ministerial roles under Theresa May, before emerging as a key member of Boris Johnson’s cabinet, with spells as international development secretary and business secretary.

He later took on responsibility for the COP26 conference early in 2020, which saw him stand down as business secretary in 2021 to allow him to focus on the conference full-tim

Sharma served as President of the global COP26 summit, otherwise known as the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties in 2022.

At the end of the Glasgow COP 26 conference, Sharma held back tears, saying he was ‘deeply sorry’ that the final deal from the climate summit appeared to have been ‘watered down’ after the intervention of India and China.

He was knighted in the 2023 New Year Honours List.

In September 2023, Sir Alok announced he would be standing down as an MP at the next election. Announcing his decision, the MP for Reading West said he will still “champion in parliament the causes I care deeply about, especially climate action”.

Sir Alok’s seat, which he has held since 2010, is being changed as part of the review of constituency boundaries before the next election, expected in 2024.

Under Rishi Sunak’s premiership, Sharma has been critical of the government’s net zero reforms.

He has warned the PM that any party going wobbly on protecting the planet would “pay a heavy price at the ballot box.”

Senior Conservative warns Sunak party will ‘pay a heavy price at the ballot box’ if it fails on climate

When questioned about Sir Alok’s decision to stand down as an MP, Rishi Sunak insisted the move is “absolutely not linked” to the watering down of net zero targets conducted by his government.

Career

Upon his entry into the British Parliament in 2010, Sharma joined the Science and Technology Select Committee (2010-2011) and the Treasury Select Committee (2014-2015).

Between these appointments, Sharma was co-chairman of Conservative Friends of India (2014) and a Conservative Party Vice-Chairman (2012-2015).

In 2016, Sharma was made a Minister of State for Asia before his move to Minister of State for Housing following the 2017 General Election.

During his time as Housing Minister, Sharma was responsible for the government response to the Grenfell Tower fire. Making a speech on the matter in the Commons, Sharma was clearly visibly moved by this responsibility.

After a short spell as a Minister for Employment (2018-2019), Sharma was promoted to Secretary of State for International Development (DFID), a position he held until a Cabinet reshuffle in early 2020. As part of this reshuffle, Sharma became the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

As Secretary of State, Sharma was responsible for hosting a few televised Coronavirus press-briefings during the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic.

‘A total distraction’: Alok Sharma on ‘smoke and mirrors’ plan for more North Sea oil drilling

Political Views

Sharma was a ‘Remain’ supporter at the 2016 Brexit vote but he was not a prominent campaigner.

As a member of Theresa May’s government, Sharma backed her withdrawal agreement in all three ‘meaningful votes’. Sharma subsequently backed both Johnson’s withdrawal agreement and post-Brexit trade deal.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma has more recently been a prominent supporter of expanding Heathrow Airport and has previously claimed that ‘a lack of hub capacity is costing the UK jobs and investment‘.

However in 2009, while first seeking election for Reading West, Sharma appeared to have had the opposite view suggesting a third runway would inflict ‘huge damage to the environment‘. The expansion of Heathrow is likely to have large consequences for plane noise in his constituency of Reading West.

Sharma has expressed strong opinions about the climate crisis. Upon becoming the COP26 President, Sharma said ‘[this] is a great honour … I have started working with my new team ahead of the summit in Glasgow this November, where we aim to speed up the global journey to net zero carbon’.

He was responsible for the UK government‘s 2020 Energy White Paper: Powering our net zero future in response to tackling climate change.

Background

How old is Alok Sharma?

Alok Sharma was born in 1967.

What did Alok Sharma do before entering Politics?

Before politics, Sharma was a qualified chartered accountant. Sharma’s range of work experience extends further to working on a factory production line, and tutoring university students.

Sharma was also once the Chairman of the political think tank, the Bow Group’s economic affairs committee.

Is Alok Sharma Married

Alok Sharma is married to Ingela, and they live with their two daughters in Caversham.