Andy Burnham has put together his new team as UK prime minister, and three Labour MPs of Indian origin have come away with senior posts. Kanishka Narayan now holds the newly created role of Minister for Artificial Intelligence, while Satvir Kaur and Harpreet Uppal have each taken up important government positions. Together, the appointments mark a clear step up in how many Indian-origin lawmakers now hold government roles under Labour.
The wider front bench also reflects growing diversity: Uma Kumaran, a Hindu MP with Sri Lankan Tamil roots, has been named a junior minister at the Foreign Office, bringing the count to two Hindu and two Sikh ministers among the senior team.
Lisa Nandy has been appointed as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport @dcms. pic.twitter.com/NeWPUFiALc
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) July 20, 2026
Not everyone moved up, though. Seema Malhotra, who had been Indo-Pacific minister, and Preet Kaur Gill, formerly a junior health minister, have both returned to the backbenches. Both were known as close allies of former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer. Meanwhile, Lisa Nandy whose father was born in Kolkata stays on in the cabinet as Culture Secretary.
Who is Kanishka Narayan?
Narayan grew up in Muzaffarpur, in India’s Bihar state, before his family moved to Wales when he was 12. He went on to study at Eton College, Oxford University and Stanford, well before he entered British politics.
He won his seat as Labour MP for Vale of Glamorgan in July 2024, and by September 2025 was serving as a junior minister in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
He was elevated on 20 July 2026 to lead the newly formed role of Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, splitting his time between the Cabinet Office and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.
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Who is Satvir Kaur?
Kaur represents Southampton Test in Parliament, having won the seat in July 2024. Her parents, originally from Punjab, ran a saree shop in Southampton.
She now serves as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, alongside a role in the Home Office covering safeguarding and violence against women and girls.
Before this, she held a post in the Cabinet Office from September 2025 to July 2026, having returned to government duties earlier this year following maternity leave that ran from September 2025 to February 2026.
Who is Harpreet Uppal?
Uppal, the MP for Huddersfield, has stepped into the role of Assistant Whip, tasked with keeping party MPs in line on key votes and coordinating parliamentary business. She entered Parliament in July 2024 and was formally handed the whip’s role on 22 July 2026.
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Before her political career, she worked on Andy Burnham’s 2017 campaign to become mayor of Greater Manchester.