Preet Gill


Preet Kaur Gill is a British Labour Co-op politician serving as Member of Parliament for Birmingham Edgbaston since 2017 and as the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development since April 2020. She is the first female British Sikh MP.

Early life

Preet Kaur Gill was born on 21 November 1972 in Edgbaston, Birmingham, in the English West Midlands to Daljit Singh Shergill and Kuldeep Kaur Shergill. Her father was a foreman, and later a bus driver, and her mother worked as a seamstress. Daljit Singh was the longest serving president of the Guru Nanak Gurdwara Smethwick. Gill credits her father and Baron Tarsem King of West Bromwich as her main inspirations for her ambition to enter politics.
She has six younger siblings. Her early education was at Lordswood Girls' School and Bournville College. At the latter, Gill was elected as student president. Gill graduated from the University of East London with a first class BSc. degree in Sociology and Social Work. After graduating, she worked as a social worker in a kibbutz in Israel and with street children in India.
She was elected as a councillor for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council in 2012 and re-elected in the 2016 local election. On the council, she has served as the Cabinet Member for Public Health and Protection.
Gill supported remaining within the European Union in the 2016 EU membership referendum.

Parliamentary career

Gill was selected by the Labour Party to contest Birmingham Edgbaston on 28 April 2017. Her selection followed Gisela Stuart's decision not to seek re-election. In the 2017 general election, Gill held the seat for Labour with 24,124 votes and a majority of 6,917. She is the first female British Sikh MP.
In July 2017, she was elected as a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee.
On 12 January 2018, she was appointed to the shadow cabinet as International Development Minister.
In March 2019, Gill signed a letter supporting the People's Vote campaign for a second referendum on EU membership.
Gill is the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Mentoring and for British Sikhs.
Gill supported Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election. She was promoted to Shadow Secretary of State for International Development following Starmer's election as leader.

Personal life

Gill has been married to Sureash Singh Chopra, who is a social worker, since 2009. They have two daughters. Gill is Vice-President of the Local Government Association and a non executive director for the Spring Housing Association.

Awards and nominations

In September 2018, Gill was named as one of the Birmingham City University's Brummies Who Inspire, alongside fellow Birmingham MP, Shabana Mahmood.
In October 2018, she was presented with the Sikh Women of Substance award by the Sikh's Women Alliance UK.
In December 2018, she was one of the recipients of the Giving Voice award, presented by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.