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At 29, Parmjit Dhanda is one of the youngest to enter the House of Commons and one of only three ethnic minority candidates selected by Labour for a winnable constituency.
Politically correct, slick, professional and imbued with the common touch, he told the media before the elections that he had decided to compete for the party's Gloucester nomination because his predecessor had been a woman.
''I was convinced that the selection process would be open and fair because when all other constituencies in the land typically selected local, middle-aged white males, Gloucester didn't -- it selected a young woman. I wanted to be judged on the merits of my CV,'' he said in an interview earlier this month.
On Friday, he described victory as a "humbling feeling" and promised to be a good constituency MP for Gloucester. "I hope this will be a fresh, positive start for Gloucester," he said in a post-election statement released to the media.
"I have real ambitions for this city in terms of investment in our schools and hospitals. I think that some of our dreams can come true and will put my heart and soul into it."
Asked what his promise to the people of Gloucester would be, Dhanda replied, "First and foremost, I will be a hard-working constituency MP. All previous MPs for Gloucester have done the job very well in their own way and I can learn lessons from the way others have done their jobs.
"I want to take the best parts of as many predecessors as possible and be an MP who truly represents all people of Gloucester."
UK-born Dhanda has a Bachelor's degree in engineering and a Masters in Information technology from Nottingham University. A year after leaving university he was appointed a Labour Party organiser for two years in 1996. In 1999, when 27, he was one of the youngest candiates of European parliamentary elections.
Soon afterwards he was elected as a councillor for the London Borough of Hillingdon. He has been a full-time member of the party for 11 years and has worked as a trainer for aspiring parliamentary candidates atending a workshop at the Labour Party headquarters in London.
As a full-time trade unionist, he has also been assistant national organiser of connect -- the union for professionals in communications, where he was responsible for recruitment, retention and development of strong working relationships with companies where workers did not have collective bargaining rights.
He is proud of leading the 1997 campaign in the London borough of Ealing, which culminated in the defeat of local Conservative MP Harry Greenway. He has also acted as an agent at local government elections that have returned the largest number of Labour seats in Ealing and in Basingstoke, near London.
Dhanda describes himself as "an experienced politician with deep roots in the labour and trade union movement. A candidate with front bench experience of local government, a former European parliamentary candidate and a national trade union official."
As a member of Britain's Asian minority population, he adds, he is well positioned to reach out to the eight per cent of Gloucester's residents who are from an ethnic minority background, often among the poorest people in society. "I can harness their support and encourage their involvement in our party," Dhanda affirmed last week.
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