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Kerala-born nurse Sojan Joseph wins UK Parliament seat
Sojan Joseph’s victory is part of a landslide win for the Labour Party in the UK, which secured over 410 seats in the 650-member House
When the results of the British parliamentary elections poured in through the early hours of Friday, one household in Neendoor panchayat in Kerala’s Kottayam district waited nervously. And then, a phone call arrived from UK bearing the good news that Sojan Joseph, a member of the family who had migrated to UK from Kerala in 2001, had been elected to the UK House of Commons on a Labour party ticket from Ashford.
Sojan Joseph, a 49-year-old mental health nurse from Kerala’s Kottayam, has created history with his debut parliamentary win in the British parliamentary election. Sojan’s victory is part of a landslide win for the Labour Party in the UK, which secured over 410 seats in the 650-member House. This marks Labour’s return to power after 14 years. He is the first-ever Labour MP to represent Ashford since it was created 139 years ago. He defeated Damian Green, a former first secretary of state and senior conservative party leader, by 1779 votes in a seat considered to be safe for the Tories. Green had represented Ashford for the past 27 years.
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Back home in Kerala, Sojan’s family celebrated through the night and was swarmed with congratulatory messages from all quarters.
His 86-year-old father Joseph couldn’t conjure enough words to express his son’s big victory in a foreign land. “I can’t tell you how happy we all are. We hadn’t slept all night and were eagerly waiting for the results. His win in such a big election makes us all so proud,” Joseph, a farmer who cultivates paddy, rubber, and tapioca among other crops near his home, told HT over the phone.
On his son’s political leanings, Joseph said, “He wasn’t very active politically, to be frank, here in Kerala growing up. He was mostly busy with his studies. But we could tell that he had socialist leanings, which he exploited in the UK. Maybe that’s what attracted him to the Labour party there. He became very active there, running in marathons and participating in boat races, to fund social causes.”
When asked about his political leanings, Sojan’s father laughed, “Oh, we have always been supporters of the Congress party here. My father was particularly a local leader of the party.”
Sojan’s sister-in-law, Jancy Simon, shared in the happiness. “He had last come to Kerala in March this year. We are eagerly waiting for him to make another visit soon,” she said.
Sojan completed his three-year undergraduate course in nursing (psychiatry) at the Dr BR Ambedkar Medical College in Bengaluru before moving to the UK in 2001. He currently works as a matron in the mental health unit of the NHS. In 2021, he stood in a local council election but faced defeat. Two years later, he won the local council election from Aylesford and East Stour on a Labour party ticket.
After his victory in Ashford, Sojan told Kent Online, “Tonight is a historic moment. Improving the town centre and roads, and helping small businesses are some of the things I plan to do for Ashford.”
