Baroness Sandip Verma is a British-Indian politician and a Conservative member of the House of Lords, where she has served since 2006. Born in Amritsar, Punjab, India, she moved to the United Kingdom with her family as a child and built her early career in the fashion and residential care sectors before entering politics.

Ministerial career

She has held several UK ministerial positions, including Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (2012–2015) and for International Development (2015–2016), and previously served as a Government Whip and Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, International Development, and Equalities and Women’s Issues. She also chaired the EU Sub-Committee for Goods and served as a member of the EU Select Committee.

Advocacy & current roles

She is the Ministerial Champion for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Overseas and chairs the UN Women’s National Committee for the UK. Since 2022, she has served as Chancellor of the University of Roehampton, and has been a longstanding advocate for equality, diversity, and inclusion across her public and private sector roles.