Syed Salah Kamall, Baron Kamall (born 15 February 1967) is a British politician and academic, who from September to October 2022 served in HM Government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.{{Cite web |title=Lord Kamall |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/people/lord-kamall |access-date=2022-09-20 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Ministerial Appointments: September 2022 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministerial-appointments-september-2022 |access-date=2022-09-20 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}} He was previously Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Innovation at the Department of Health and Social Care (2021–22).[https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers www.gov.uk]

Professor of Politics and International Relations at St Mary's University, Twickenham, Lord Kamall is also the academic and research director at the Institute of Economic Affairs, a classical liberal think tank based in London.

Kamall represented London as a Member of the European Parliament for the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2019, serving on the International Trade and Economic and Monetary Affairs Committees. From 2013 to 2014, Kamall served as Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament, then as Leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists, from June 2014 till 2019.

In December 2020, he was nominated by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a Life Peer (cr. 28 Jan 2021).{{cite web |title=Political Peerages 2020 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/political-peerages-2020 |website=Gov.uk |access-date=22 December 2020 |archive-date=22 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222141834/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/political-peerages-2020 |url-status=live }}

Biography

Kamall was born in Hornsey and brought up in Edmonton, London.{{cite web |url=http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=OUN%2Fw%2FRtUrGStC7rbtqxww&scan=1|title=Index entry |access-date=13 June 2016 |work=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS}} He is a Muslim, and of Indo-Guyanese descent; his father migrated to London from Guyana in the 1950s.[http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/topstories/3941644.Kingston_Euro_MP_Syed_Kamall_tells_of_terrifying_Indian_ordeal/ Kingston Euro MP Syed Kamall tells of terrifying Indian ordeal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004082846/http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/topstories/3941644.Kingston_Euro_MP_Syed_Kamall_tells_of_terrifying_Indian_ordeal/ |date=4 October 2009 }} This Is Local London.

Educated at the Latymer School in Edmonton, he then graduated from the University of Liverpool as BEng, before receiving an MSc degree from the London School of Economics and later a PhD from City University, London.{{cite web |title=Syed Kamall, Dr., ex-MEP {{!}} OBV |url=https://www.obv.org.uk/our-communities/black-politicians/syed-kamall-dr-mep |website=www.obv.org.uk |access-date=2 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009051407/https://www.obv.org.uk/our-communities/black-politicians/syed-kamall-dr-mep|archive-date=9 October 2012}}

Early career

Kamall started his career as a business systems analyst for NatWest Overseas Department (1989–91). He was a Management Fellow, University of Bath School of Management (1994–96), Management Research Fellow, Leeds University Business School (1996–97), Associate Director/Consultant, Omega Partners (1997–2001), and a Consultant at SSK Consulting (2001–05). He was elected a Visiting Fellow of Leeds University Business School in 2004 where he lectured MBA students on international business and strategy, and supervised doctoral students' research.

Before entering the European Parliament, Kamall worked as a consultant to companies on marketing, strategy and public affairs. In 2003, he started a diversity recruitment business. He is a co-founder of the Global Business Research Institute (GBRI),{{cite web|url=http://www.gbri.org/founders.htm|title=www.gbri.org|publisher=|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060618035101/http://www.gbri.org/founders.htm|archive-date=18 June 2006|df=dmy-all}} an educational body conducting outreach to business executives, journalists and civil servants, promoting a greater understanding of globalisation and its consequences.

Political career

File:Brexit the time has come for the UK to clarify its position (46766254231).jpg

Kamall has been a member of the Conservatives since 1987 and has held various positions in the party since then: Chairman, Stockwell Ward, Vauxhall Conservative Association; Hon. Secretary, Bath Conservative Association CPC; Chairman, Eccleston Ward, and Chairman, Eccleston/Churchill CPC, Cities of London and Westminster Conservative Association; Executive Member, London Eastern Area Committee.

In May 2000, Kamall was a Conservative Candidate for the London Assembly. The following year, he was Conservative candidate for West Ham in the June 2001 General Election. He was placed fourth on the Conservative list in London for the 2004 European Parliament elections. The Conservatives won three seats and Kamall became a Member of the European Parliament in May 2005, after Theresa Villiers stepped down on being elected as an MP to the UK Parliament. In the European Parliament, he served on the Economic and Monetary Affairs, Legal Affairs and International Trade committees.

Kamall was placed on the "A-list" of Conservative parliamentary candidates ahead of the 2010 election{{cite web|url=http://conservativehome.blogs.com/goldlist/2006/05/as_promised_thi.html|title=ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog: Who is on the A-list?|website=conservativehome.blogs.com|access-date=31 May 2006|archive-date=8 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108042851/http://conservativehome.blogs.com/goldlist/2006/05/as_promised_thi.html|url-status=live}} and was again returned to Brussels in 2014 representing London as an MEP.

He is also a contributor to the free market public policy think tank The Cobden Centre, one of Europe's pre-eminent think tanks based around the Austrian School of economics.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cobdencentre.org/author/syed-kamall/|title=Syed Kamall | The Cobden Centre|date=7 September 2013 |access-date=24 December 2020|archive-date=20 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120161414/https://www.cobdencentre.org/author/syed-kamall/|url-status=live}}

In 2016, Kamall backed voting to leave the European Union in the run up to the Brexit referendum.{{Cite web |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/tory-mep-syed-kamall-i-m-backing-brexit-a3201046.html |title=Tory MEP Syed Kamall: I'm backing Brexit {{!}} London Evening Standard {{!}} Evening Standard |date=11 March 2016 |access-date=5 October 2021 |archive-date=5 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005180347/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/tory-mep-syed-kamall-i-m-backing-brexit-a3201046.html |url-status=live }}

In October 2018, during a debate in which Udo Bullmann, the German leader of the Socialists and Democrats Group linked the political right to extremism, Kamall responded by saying that Nazis were National Socialists who followed left wing policies. There was an angry reaction from the Left and he apologised for any offence caused. However, he was angered himself when Udo Bullmann, issued a press release which falsely accused Kamall of calling the S&D Nazis.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-45965177|title=Tory sorry after socialism 'Nazis' remark|date=24 October 2018|publisher=BBC News|access-date=27 May 2019|archive-date=8 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508150850/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-45965177|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/24/uk-lawmaker-causes-uproar-in-eu-parliament-for-naz/|title=Conservative causes uproar in EU Parliament for Nazi comment|date=24 October 2018|work=The Washington Times|access-date=24 October 2018|archive-date=24 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024192149/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/24/uk-lawmaker-causes-uproar-in-eu-parliament-for-naz/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/conservative-mep-european-parliament-syed-kamall-video/|title='You idiot!' Moment Tory MEP faces chorus of abuse for claiming Hitler 'was a socialist'|newspaper=Inews.co.uk |date=24 October 2018|publisher=|access-date=24 October 2018|archive-date=24 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024112222/https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/conservative-mep-european-parliament-syed-kamall-video/|url-status=live}}

In the 2019 European Parliament election, Syed Kamall lost his European Parliamentary seat.{{cite web|date=27 May 2019|title=Jeremy Hunt fears for Tory party's future after election disaster|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/european-elections-2019-conservatives-existence-under-threat-after-worst-ever-result-jeremy-hunt-a4152016.html|access-date=27 May 2019|website=Evening Standard|archive-date=27 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527035100/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/european-elections-2019-conservatives-existence-under-threat-after-worst-ever-result-jeremy-hunt-a4152016.html|url-status=live}}

Prime Minister Boris Johnson then nominated him as a Life Peer in December 2020, as announced in the 2020 Political Honours list.{{Cite web|title=Boris Johnson overrides watchdog to hand Lords seat to Tory donor who backed his leadership bid|url=https://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-overrides-watchdog-to-hand-lords-seat-to-tory-donor-who-backed-his-leadership-bid-12170349|access-date=2020-12-23|website=Sky News|language=en|archive-date=22 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222190937/https://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-overrides-watchdog-to-hand-lords-seat-to-tory-donor-who-backed-his-leadership-bid-12170349|url-status=live}} On 28 January 2021, he was created Baron Kamall, of Edmonton in the London Borough of Enfield, being introduced to the House of Lords the following month.{{Cite web|title=Crown Office|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3726512|access-date=2021-02-11|website=www.thegazette.co.uk}}

On 17 September 2021, Lord Kamall was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Innovation at the Department for Health and Social Care, in the second Cabinet reshuffle of the second Johnson ministry.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministerial-appointments-september-2021|title=Ministerial appointments: September 2021|date=16 September 2021|access-date=17 September 2021|archive-date=17 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917165312/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministerial-appointments-september-2021|url-status=live}}

He was chosen to present the Royal Armills to the King at the 2023 Coronation.{{cite news |title=Coronation order of service in full |work=BBC News |date=5 May 2023 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65503950 |access-date=6 May 2023}}

Publications

In 1996, Kamall wrote a book on EU telecommunications policy,{{cite book|title=Telecommunications Policy|first=Syed|last=Kamall|date=1 July 1996|publisher=Cartermill International|id={{ASIN|1860671101|country=uk}}}} and has written on multinational business and telecommunications policy for such books as Management in China: The Experience of Foreign Businesses; Trade and Investment in China: The European Experience; Political and Economic Relations Between Asia and Europe: New Challenges in Economics and Management, and in such journals as Management International Review and Transnational Corporations.

Personal life

Kamall follows Islam,{{cite web|url=http://www.conservativehome.com/interviews-5/2015/07/interview-syed-kamall-mep-i-would-prefer-people-to-have-a-choice-personally-i-dont-see-why-we-need-a-shortlist.html|title=Interview: Syed Kamall MEP – "I would prefer people to have a choice, personally. I don't see why we need a shortlist."|date=22 July 2015 |publisher=Conservative Home|access-date=25 February 2016|archive-date=4 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604072243/http://www.conservativehome.com/interviews-5/2015/07/interview-syed-kamall-mep-i-would-prefer-people-to-have-a-choice-personally-i-dont-see-why-we-need-a-shortlist.html|url-status=live}} and, in 1997, married Sandira Bye Beekoo,[https://www.burkespeerage.com/ www.burkespeerage.com] a fellow Conservative.{{cite web |title=Sandira Beekoo |url=https://www.kingstonconservatives.org.uk/people/sandira-beekoo |website=Kingston and Surbiton Conservatives |access-date=26 November 2022 |archive-date=26 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126121713/https://www.kingstonconservatives.org.uk/people/sandira-beekoo |url-status=dead }}

After leaving the European Parliament, Syed Kamall became the Academic and Research Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs and Professor of International Relations and Politics at St Mary's University, Twickenham.{{cite web |url=https://iea.org.uk/professor-syed-kamall |title=Professor Syed Kamall |website=Institute of Economic Affairs |language=en |access-date=15 July 2020 |archive-date=17 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717170854/https://iea.org.uk/professor-syed-kamall/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/staff-directory/syed-kamall |title=Professor Syed Kamall |website=St Mary's University, Twickenham |language=en |access-date=15 July 2020 |archive-date=10 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810221838/https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/staff-directory/syed-kamall |url-status=live }}

A keen player of the bass guitar, Kamall sang in a blues band called "Exiled in Brussels", with Latvian MEP Roberts Zīle.{{Citation |title=Exiled in Brussels – Blue Jeans (BILDES 2017) | date=15 January 2018 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrPXAqngAHE |access-date=2023-04-06 |language=en}}

Notes

References

External links

[http://www.syedkamall.com/ www.syedkamall.com]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20090611035518/http://www.conservatives.com/People/Members_of_the_European_Parliament/Kamall_Syed.aspx www.conservatives.com – Syed Kamall]
[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/33569/SYED_KAMALL_home.html Profile at the European Parliament]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060712123605/http://www.bath.ac.uk/eri/pdf/op-clegg-kamall-leung.pdf "European multinational activity in telecommunications services in the People's Republic of China"] (J Clegg, S Kamall, M Leung, Management International Review, 1996.)
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928215309/http://www.globalisation.eu/blog/protectionism/syed-kamall-mep-on-trade-justice-20060329624/ www.globalisation.eu]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20071106023128/http://www.kingstonconservatives.com/representatives/meps/syed-kamall.html www.kingstonconservatives.com]
[http://uklibertyleague.org/about www.uklibertyleague.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717080322/http://uklibertyleague.org/about/ |date=17 July 2011 }}
[http://www.cityam.com/profile/syed-kamall www.cityam.com]
[https://members.parliament.uk/member/4909/contact www.parliament.uk]