From Kottayam To UK Parliament, 49-Yr-Old Nurse Scripts History

OB Bureau

July 5, 2024 9:35 pm

Pic courtesy The Indian Express

London: A nurse with Kerala roots made history on Thursday when he was elected to the British Parliament.

Sojan Joseph, from Kaipuzha in Kottayam, contested on a Labour Party candidate from Conservative Party stronghold of Ashford and defeated veteran politician Damien Green.

Sojan, who left the Kerala shores 22 years ago and settled in the UK, is the first from his state to be elected to the British Parliament.

What made his victory even more special was the fact that he scripted victory for Labour Party in Ashford for the first time in the last 139 years.

Labour Party swept to victory in a landslide verdict, winning 412 out of 650 seats, pushing outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party to 121.

“Britain’s tax burden is at its highest in 70 years. Yet our National Health Service is on its knees and we are not dealing with the gangs behind illegal immigration. Where is the money going? It’s time for change, vote Labour,” Sojan had written on the party’s social media page for Ashford in the run-in to the July 4 national elections.

Sojan is the youngest of seven children of farmer couple Joseph and the late Elikutty. Having studied nursing at Bengaluru’s Ambedkar Medical College, Sojan worked for a year at a Dehradun hospital before making his big move.

Sojan has three children with wife Brita, a native of Thrissur who is also a nurse.

One of his elder sisters, Siby Sunny, is also settled as a nurse at Ashford.

Sojan’s family back home is mighty thrilled.

“He went to the UK in 2001 and joined the government health service as a nurse. He had not pursued politics during his campus days in Kerala or Bengaluru. But he was always a good organiser. For the last two years, he had served as a councillor at Ashford, before stepping into the race for the Parliament elections,” Sojan’s sister Alice, a retired teacher, told The Indian Express.

“He visited Kerala in March this year. The electoral battle was very tough, but he was confident of winning,” said Alice.