Five facts about Alok Sharma, new UK Business Secretary

Reuters
·1 min read

LONDON (Reuters) - 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.

- 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.

- 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."

- Sharma is married and has two daughters.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; editing by Stephen Addison)