- Dolar Popat
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Dolar Popat, Baron Popat (born Uganda, 14 June 1953) is a British Asian businessman and politician. In July 2010 he became a Member of the House of Lords as a life peer and is the first Gujarati to represent the Conservative party in the House of Lords.[1][2] He immigrated to Britain in 1971 during the expulsion of Asians from Uganda. He is President of Harrow East Conservative Association and is a member of or adviser to various Asian groups within the Conservative party.
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Early life
Lord Popat was born on 14 June 1953, in Busolwe and brought up in Tororo, Uganda. He is one of eight siblings. Lord Popat has his ancestral roots in the Gujarat state of India, where his father, Shree Amarshibhai Haridas Popat, and mother, Parvatiben Amarshibhai Popat, were born. Lord Popat’s father left India for Uganda in 1938. After reaching there, he first secured a job and following several years of working alone, he was joined by his wife (Lord Popat’s mother) in 1942.
He arrived in the UK in 1971 at the age of 17, a year before the expulsion of many Indians from Uganda, with only £10 in his pocket. Lord Popat sponsored himself through night school at Kilburn Polytechnic by taking on jobs including working as a dishwasher, waiter, and grill chef at Wimpey on Kilburn High Street. He qualified as a Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in 1977.
Family
Lord Popat married Lady Sandhya Popat on 19 July 1980, who is the daughter of Hansaben & Jamnadasbhai Lukka. Lord and Lady Popat have three sons: Rupeen, Paavan and Shivaan.
Career
After completing his studies, Lord Popat held a number of positions, including trainee accountant at Abagjan Ltd, UDT Finance (Barclays), Rockware Glass, and personal accountant to Peter Parker.
After practising as an accountant in the 1970s, Lord Popat specialised in business and corporate finance. He remains an Affiliate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Lord Popat diversified into the healthcare sector in the late 1980s and the hospitality sector in the late 1990s, and secured a master franchise with Holiday Inn and Express by Holiday Inn in the UK.
Politics
Lord Popat is an advocate of community cohesion and the importance of reconciling and uniting different cultures under the UK’s central democratic process.
Lord Popat has been actively involved with the Conservative Party since the 1980s, serving two Conservative Party prime ministers – Margaret Thatcher and John Major. During that time he has acted as an advisor to help the party’s engagement with minority communities and groups, and to drive commitment to communities in marginal seats and throughout the party.
Lord Popat has advocated that the Conservative Party is a place where enterprise, hard work and social responsibility are respected and encouraged, and that these are values that the British Indian community naturally share. He has worked to bridge the gap between the Conservative Party and the British Indian community and believes that the party and the community will mutually benefit from a deeper and sustained engagement and understanding.
Lord Popat’s party appointments have included: • Secretary to the Anglo Asian Conservative Association • Chairman of the One Nation Forum • Vice Chairman – subsequently Chairman – of the Strangers Gallery (a Parliamentary Private Club for the business community) • Speaker on behalf of the Conservative Party on the “Next Step” Diversity and Leadership in Britain in the 21st Century • Advisor to the British Asian Conservative Link (BACL) • Member of the Conservative Ethnic Diversity Council • Chairman of the Stanmore Park Ward • President of Harrow East Conservative Association
In 2009 Lord Popat was honoured with an award at the Asian Political and Public Life Awards at the House of Commons by the Conservative Party’s then Chairman, Eric Pickles MP, for promoting the Conservative Party in the community.
On 12 July 2010 Lord Popat was ennobled on the recommendation of David Cameron, Leader of the Conservative Party, for his services to small and medium sized businesses and to the wider community. He took the title of Lord Popat of Harrow as it was there that his parents lived when they moved to Britain. On 31 March 2011 he made his maiden speech in the Lords, during a debate on economic growth.
Religion
Lord Popat is a Hindu who follows the teachings of the Spiritual Leader Morari Bapu.
Charity
Lord Popat has also been involved with a number of Hindu community organisations. He is a founding Director of St Luke’s Hospice, Harrow and has been an advisor to the Nightingale House Trust (a charitable organisation that provides care to the Jewish community).
Lord Popat founded and funds a registered charity, the Dolar Popat Foundation, which makes contributions to medical and educational institutions. In addition, he has made contributions worth over £400,000 to charities and voluntary organisations over the last five years[when?]. He is as the Strategic Planning Advisor to the Hindu Forum of Great Britain.
Other interests
Lord Popat regularly visits India, the Middle-East and East Africa, and is well acquainted with community and business leaders in the US, Canada, South Africa and Europe.
He speaks four languages including Gujarati, Hindi, and Swahili.
References
Categories:- Living people
- Conservative Party (UK) life peers
- British people of Indian descent
- 1953 births
- British nobility stubs
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