Alok Sharma was elected Member of Parliament for Reading West in 2010.
London:
Alok Sharma, appointed business minister and head of November's COP26 climate change summit on Thursday, has held several ministerial posts and is seen as a loyal supporter of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
- Alok Sharma, 52, was born in India, moving to Reading in southern England when he was five years old.
- With a background in banking, he was elected Member of Parliament for Reading West in 2010 with one of the largest swings to the Conservatives in the country, according to his website.
- Mr Sharma has held various roles, becoming the prime minister's infrastructure envoy to India in 2016 and a minister for housing the next year.
- He became the minister for international aid in 2019.- He was tearful in parliament in 2016, when as housing minister he described meeting the survivors of a devastating fire at an apartment block in London that killed more than 70 people. He said: "Hearing the harrowing accounts of survivors has been the most humbling and moving experience of my life."
- Alok Sharma is married and has two daughters
