As the Labour Party sweeps the elections in Britain, it has won most of the Welsh seats. In Wales, Labour has gained 27 seats, including those in Montgomeryshire, Wrexham, Bridgend, and the Vale of Glamorgan. Kanishka Narayan, an Indian-origin Labour MP, defeated former Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns in the Vale of Glamorgan. With 17,740 votes, Narayan defeated Alun Cairns, who received 13,524 votes, to win the election. The voter turnout here was 61.62%.
After winning the election, Kanishka Narayan said, “My message is one of gratitude for everyone who put trust in me and the Labour Party. I also have a commitment to those who did not vote for us. We are going to reach out and deliver starting today. One overarching challenge is delivering in a place where we have come from – economic chaos. We are going to be rebuilding trust and integrity with the public.
Kanishka Narayan was born in Bihar, India, and was raised in Cardiff after moving there at the age of twelve. After a year at Cathays High School, he received a scholarship to attend the esteemed Eton College. He studied PPE at Oxford University and then he came to America to receive an MBA from Stanford University.
𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞!
— Kanishka Narayan (@KanishkaNarayan) July 4, 2024
Incredible effort from Team Vale, speaking to thousands of voters today from Barry, through Cowbridge and Llantwit Major, all the way to Ogmore-by-Sea.
Now for the final… pic.twitter.com/UauUYvLgtf
Narayan had joined the Labour Party at the age of eighteen. He went on to serve as a civil servant in the Environment Department under Liz Truss and the Cabinet Office under David Cameron. He moved from Cardiff to Barry in 2023 after being chosen as the Labour candidate for the Vale of Glamorgan constituency.
Notably, David TC Davies, the Welsh secretary, lost his seat in Monmouthshire and the Conservatives have not gained any seats in Wales.
With 37% vote share in Wales, the Labour Party secured 27 seats, while the Tories secured 18% of the vote but failed to win any seats. The Liberal Democrats secured one seat, while Plaid Cyrmu secured four seats — Ynys Mon, Caerfyrddin, Dwyfor Meirionnydd, and Ceredigion Preseli.
Apart from Kanishka Narayan many other candidates of Indian origin have won in these elections from Conservative and the Labour Party. Conservative candidate Shivani Raja won the Leicester East seat defeating Labour’s Rajesh Agarwal.
