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Lord Dolar Popat

Lord Dolar Popat

THERE is no dearth of stories of immigrants succeeding and flourishing and amassing significant wealth in the process but among all these narratives, the tale of Dolar Popat, a peer in the House of Lords, stands out. Not that many Lords are refugees or start their working lives in a burger bar. Born in Uganda, Popat was only 17 when he reached the UK with just £10 and a cardboard suitcase to escape the grasp of Idi Amin’s brutal regime.

“I got on that plane less than a month before my 18th birthday. I brought with me £10 of my own money…..and a suitcase made of cardboard,” he said about his journey into the unknown. But the youngster had a fire in him to prove himself and he embarked on a relentless journey towards success in his new country of residence. He started out as a waiter at a Wimpy Bar, and rose to prominence as a business magnate and ultimately secured a seat in the House of Lords. The path was not easy or smooth but Popat, who is the first person with origins in India’s Gujarat to become a Conservative member of the House of Lords, found a strong backing from the former prime minister and now Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron – besides his spiritual mentor Pujya Morari Bapu. Popat, whose autobiography A British Sub ject chronicles his remarkable journey and underscores the significance of integration in Britain, is a tireless servant of international trade and passionately works towards serving both the UK and Uganda – the two countries that he holds close to his heart. While Lord Cameron made him a peer in 2010 and also appointed him the trade envoy to Rwanda and Uganda with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Popat’s effectiveness in his role has been widely acknowledged – leading to his retention by successive prime ministers, including Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak. Soon after he reached Heathrow after bid ding adieu to his parents in Uganda, the test of Popat’s resilience began. He balanced studying at a night school with various jobs, including dishwasher, waiter, and grill chef. In 1977, Popat earned affiliate mem bership with the Chartered Institute of Man agement Accountants. Beginning with a care home business, he expanded into hotels and nursery provision. Today, his sons Rupeen, Pavaan, and Shivaan are looking after the family business. A supporter of Brexit, he sees it as a way of opening up trade where Britain once had an economic legacy – obviously in Africa He has also been instrumental in advocating robust diplomatic and economic relations be tween the UK and Africa.


In January 2024, Popat, as the leader of the UK prime minister’s delega tion at TechAffinity Rwanda, which aims at strengthening trade and investment relations between London and Kigali, said “Africa is the next frontier for trade and investment.” Similarly, Popat made a key visit to Uganda at the tail end of 2022 when he announced a ground-breaking duty-free agreement for Uganda’s exports to the UK’s trade market. Popat has also been the founding chairman of the Conservative Friends of India (CFI), a social and networking platform which played a crucial role in bolstering and facilitating the advancement of Indian-origin MPs. But the veteran Conservative leader is not one who is only concerned with high-level international trade. He is also passionate about small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and played a key role in establishing a House of Lords cross-party Select Committee on SME Exports to evaluate the British government’s efforts to support and enhance SME exports. He also wants to connect it with the potential that Africa offers.

While Popat’s affection for Africa may be influenced by his birthplace on the continent, he also harbours a genuine desire to see the UK thrive globally after Brexit. That is evident by the fact that he promotes strong ties with key leaders of the Indian community at home and involves himself with initiatives such as CFI and other community pro jects. If Popat is asked about one single aspect of his life that he has championed throughout, it is the significance of civic duty. And it is precisely one of the factors that pushed him to encourage bigger involvement of British Asians in grassroots politics in his long career. It gives him immense pride today to see British Asians making their presence felt in the country’s cabinet more than ever and he wants to see more people emerging through the ranks to match the likes of Sunak. The peer draws strength and inspiration from Pujya Morari Bapu who he credits for igniting in him liberal and mod ern perspectives.

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