Uma Kumaran becomes first British Tamil minister in Foreign Office role

Uma Kumaran, the Labour MP for Stratford and Bow and the first person of Eelam Tamil heritage elected to the British parliament, has been appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, becoming the first British Tamil to hold ministerial office.

The appointment was confirmed on Wednesday evening as the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, set out his ministerial team. Kumaran will also serve as an Assistant Whip. The Foreign Office is the department responsible for British foreign policy, including its position at the United Nations.

Announcing the appointment, Kumaran said:

"Honoured to be appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. At a volatile time globally, Britains voice and international leadership matters. Looking forward to serving our great country in @FCDOGovUK"

She added that the news was:

"Particularly meaningful to share this news today as the first ever Minister of British Tamil heritage. Britain gave my both parents sanctuary, a chance to rebuild their lives and to flourish. An honour to serve King and Country at the FCDO"

From the backbenches to the department

Kumaran has pressed the Foreign Office on Sri Lanka since her election, tabling written questions asking what steps the department was taking to ensure that excavations at the Chemmani mass graves comply with international law and standards, how it was working to uphold the human rights of Tamils on the island, and whether it was acting to ensure that those responsible for human rights violations against Tamils are brought to justice.

She now takes office as the Chemmani excavation has become the largest mass grave investigation in the islands history, with 471 sets of human remains identified to date, among them the remains of infants and children, and as families of the disappeared continue to demand an international investigation, having this week told a visiting European Union delegation that they would never accept domestic accountability mechanisms.

Their story is part of Britains story

Kumaran was born in east London to Eelam Tamil parents who fled anti-Tamil pogroms in the early 1980s and were granted refuge in Britain, and was raised in Harrow. She studied at Queen Mary University of London and worked in the NHS, as a parliamentary researcher and caseworker, and as Director of Diplomatic and International Relations for the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, before serving as Deputy Director of Parliamentary Affairs to the then Labour leader, Keir Starmer.

She was elected in July 2024 as the first MP for the newly created constituency of Stratford and Bow, with a majority of 11,634.

Speaking to the Tamil Guardian before her election, Kumaran said Tamils had taken their voices to parliament many times, calling for justice and lobbying MPs, but had never had a voice on the green benches, and that it was her ambition to change that