Primesh Patel is the UK Labour's parliamentary candidate for Harrow East. He has previously served many years as a local school governor in Harrow East at Bentley Wood High School and is an experienced local Harrow councillor from 2014 to 2022 winning two consecutive elections.
In an interview with Asian Voice, he discusses his candidacy, the Labour Party and his plans for his constituency.
What inspired your decision to join politics and run for the position of parliamentary candidate for Harrow East for the Labour Party, especially considering the party’s increasing support of the anti-India rhetoric?
For me, politics is about service, to your local community and your country. Harrow East is my home and I want to make it a better place for everyone, giving back to the community that has given me so much. The Conservatives have let Harrow East down and it’s time for a fresh start. Of course, the chance to be the first-ever Hindu MP of Indian and Gujarati descent would be a great honour, especially given the large Indian community in Harrow.
The relationship between India and the Labour Party under Sir Keir Starmer has been reset. Modern India will be very important to a future Labour government. As Keir said at the India Global Forum last year, this is a changed Labour Party which sees India a major success story and why the party is increasing representation of British Indians at all levels, including those such as myself in Harrow and Rajesh Agrawal in Leicester standing for Parliament.
How do you plan to actively engage with the residents of Harrow East and address their concerns?
Since being selected as the Labour Party’s Harrow East parliamentary candidate last year, I have spoken to thousands of residents about their concerns, whether on their doorsteps or at countless community events and key themes have clearly emerged. Firstly, the Tory cost of living crisis is causing great pain to many, whether that’s record high prices and tax burdens, runaway inflation, or spiralling mortgage and rental costs. The Tories have no answer to these problems, they only add to them. They’ve had 14 years to do something and yet they have done nothing to help the people of Harrow East.
How do you envision using your background in the health & social care sector to address healthcare-related issues in Harrow East?
My first job after leaving school was at my local NHS hospital and I’m really proud to have worked in the health and social care sector for nearly two decades. The creation of the NHS was, in my opinion, one of the Labour Party’s greatest achievements but it faces significant ongoing challenges as a result of 14 years of Tory government. Record waiting lists, chronic underfunding and outrageously long wait times at Northwick Park’s A&E department are a major concern for all of us in Harrow East. The Conservatives nationally, backed by local Tory MPs, are dismantling our health service and are content to see the NHS run into the ground. As our local MP, I would help a future Labour government invest in our local NHS, bring down waiting lists and help create an NHS that is fit for the future. Harrow East deserves no less.
Can you share specific achievements or initiatives you undertook during your tenure that had a positive impact on the community?
A big part of being a local councillor, and arguably the most important, is dealing with casework for residents raising a variety of issues that they need help with, ranging from help with complex social care issues to help with the improving the local environment. In the local area that I was a councillor for, I was particularly proud to have transformed play and recreation facilities in a local park for young people and to also have successfully installed festive lights for the first time which continue to be used for Christmas, Diwali and other festive occasions. It was difficult with the central Tory government having constantly cut so much funding for Harrow meaning that tough decisions had to be taken, but I always prided myself on helping to protect key community services and deliver for Harrow residents.
What specific policies or initiatives do you propose to ensure the success of Harrow’s youth?
We need proper investment in our schools and colleges, excellent standards of teaching and access to quality extra-curricular activities for all. Both myself and the Labour Party are committed to breaking down the barriers to opportunity for every child in Harrow East. I want to ensure we expand Harrow’s high-quality education, employment opportunities and training roles so that as many young people as possible are on the journey to good prospects in the next 10 years. This also means working hard to ensure a sustained rise in young people’s school outcomes and ensuring that we build young people’s life skills. We must also reform childcare and early years support so that children throughout Harrow East have the best start in life. We’ve already set out our fully funded pledge for free breakfast clubs for all state primary school children, which will give them the best start to every day.
Harrow especially has a strong Indian community. Do you think the Labour party will be able to strongly support your and the community’s voice?
British Indians contribute so much to the UK, especially in the fields of healthcare and business. I chose to stand for the Labour Party here in Harrow because I passionately believe that the Labour Party is best placed to fix the mess created by the Conservatives. I am a proud British East African Indian Hindu and for me the Labour Party is best placed to represent the interests of Harrow East’s diverse communities, especially the Indian community.
Labour is the party of aspiration, the party that will ensure your children can access the best quality schools, the party that will make sure your businesses can thrive and the party that will fix our NHS. In contrast, the Conservatives continue to serve only narrow interests, decimating public services and taking decisions that have destroyed our economy and wrecked prospects, with high inflation, a record high tax burden and slashing investment in key services. The Conservatives have let the country down. The Conservatives have let Harrow East down. Only Labour will secure Britian’s future.
