Lankan-origin woman elected to British Parliament

Uma Kumaran, daughter of a couple who sought refuge in the United Kingdom after having fled Sri Lanka at the height of the civil war, on Friday scripted history by becoming the first-ever Tamil woman to enter the British Parliament.

Born and raised in London, Kumaran is the first-ever Member of Parliament for Stratford and Bow. Her parents hailed from Jaffna and belong to a family that had deep connections with trade unions. They came to London in the 1980s.

A member of the Labour Party, Kumaran polled over 19,000 votes and defeated her nearest rival by over 12,000 votes. Working for NHS Professionals for 14 months, Uma Kumaran was a Parliamentary researcher and caseworker for Labour MP Dawn Butler and worked with several lawmakers of the party before she contested the local body elections in 2010 but failed to get elected.

(DH)

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