At first glance, Lord Kamlesh Patel's life seems a tapestry of contradictions. A Yorkshireman with roots in east Africa, India and Britain. He carries the weight of multiple identities with effortless grace. Yet, beneath this multifaceted persona lies a singular mission: to improve the world, one initiative at a time. As we sat down to discuss his journey, his passion was palpable. It was a testament to why he remains a towering figure in the realms of public service.
In 2024, Lord Patel took on the role of dual chancellor at University of Southampton. This marked a pivotal moment in his influential career. His partnership with former education secretary, Justine Greening, is not just symbolic of bridging diverse backgrounds but also a strategic move which aims to enhance social mobility and elevate the university's global standing. This collaboration is expected to have a profound impact on access to higher education, particularly for students from underprivileged backgrounds. “We come from different backgrounds, but I think we can really work together well,” he told the Power List with an enthusiasm which is infectious. “We can improve social mobility for students as well as take the university to a different level.
His influence extends beyond the UK borders as the university became the first higher education institution to set up a fully-fledged campus in India. This initiative is not just a feather Southampton’s cap but a strategic move to harness, what the peer called, “India's demographic dividend”.
“You're talking about 700 million people under the age of 35,” he explained, a statistic which underscored the potential impact of this educational venture. “That provides a global workforce, not just for India but for the world. Potentially it gives India a massive demographic dividend, that these people can meet its own fairly ambitious objectives. But also, it'll meet many of the world's objectives as well.”
Lord Patel’s advocacy for international students is unwavering, even during the UK's current anti-immigrant rhetoric. He highlighted the crucial role which universities and these students would play in economic growth and cultural exchange. “It's one institution that can engage local government, national government with industry, with the student population,” he continued. “It can be a global player. It can help enhance partnerships and bring in innovation and funds. So, it seems really an own goal to stop a university financially managing by almost creating a situation where international students won't want to come to this country. The majority will only work here for a short time going back to their country of origin, so it's a really short sighted to make them feel unwelcomed by this rhetoric.”
He is acutely aware of the challenges facing British universities, many of which are grappling with financial instability. “The £9,250 a year fee isn’t enough to sustain a domestic audience, and it has been and will be subsidised by international students,” he explained. “The policies and the rhetoric have curtailed some, though I think Indian students are particularly still strong and are still the majority students. I know Chinese students have certainly reduced. Canada doesn't have this issue. Australia doesn't because the students are still going there, and we potentially lose an opportunity. If you look at Southampton, its international students are an absolute bedrock of the region. As a university it probably contributes somewhere in
the region of a couple of billion pounds to the overall national economy, and, certainly international students relationships are key.”
Patel's work resonates deeply within south Asian communities and beyond. His advocacy for sustainable education and his efforts to dismantle barriers for international students exemplify his commitment to inclusivity. The peer’s work extends into mental health, an area where his influence has changed national policy. As the chair of Cygnet Healthcare’s Advisory Board, he focuses on raising standards in mental health in-patient care. “Every single person we take is 100 per cent NHS patients,” he stressed. “We've recently built seven new hospitals, and it's what I would expect if I was a mental patient, to be admitted to a wonderful 21st century modern hospital, unlike some of the facilities we see across the country. We're looking to build more because there is a big need for people, for patients, and the NHS can't meet that demand. We're investing. We're here to stay. I think it's certainly needed in terms of mental health capacity.”
Patel championed the cause of racial equality in mental health care for decades. His work with the “Count Me In” census”, which began in 2005 under the Labour government, provided vital data on ethnic monitoring in mental health settings. “On the 31st of March every year we had 100 per cent accurate record of who was an in-patient in our mental health wards in England, and that was really important. The importance of ethnic monitoring, the importance of sharing with patients, the importance of analysing that data and improving services, sadly it was put to one side. We need to ensure that all those lessons learned, and the good work that was done, is not lost, and we bring it back.”
He explained why in simple terms. “If I had a supermarket, I'd want to know who's coming through the doors and what they're buying, and if they're not coming through the doors, what should I be selling to make them come through the doors? And how can they enjoy their shopping experience in my shop? Because I'm selling them the right things, I've got the right staff greeting them and working with them, and we've provided them with a good service.”
Patel grew up in a multicultural environment, and his journey was not without its challenges. At 16, he took on a variety of roles including sweeping floors. Later he worked at a bar, and as a silver service waiter. He sold life insurance, managed a betting office, sold second-hand cars, and even did some accountancy work for an employment agency. In each of these jobs, he worked diligently and aimed to be the best he could be. Many forget that he worked in the ambulance service, noting that, much like today, it was challenging to manage on the salaries offered at that time.
Patel spoke candidly about his early years, about the influence of his family and community in shaping his ethos. He was the son of immigrants, acutely aware of the sacrifices his parents made to provide a better future for their children. It is that anchor which made him the force he is today. “I've been lucky, and I've got to places, and I have a voice and being in the House of Lords gives you an additional voice,” he mused. “I think it's a responsibility to do what you can to benefit society and help communities. For me it's not about minority communities, it's about all communities and those providing a good level of service. If you're a social worker, you provide a good level of care, and it's very difficult in this environment.”
His role as a working peer is to challenge, confront unpalatable truths and hold government to account. It was Patel who forced the police to recognise that like other communities, south Asians had a problem with drug abuse. Until his groundbreaking work, forces thought south Asian communities did not dabble in drugs. Tony Blair’s and Gordon Brown’s administrations, he said, made sure they ringfenced money to make sure users had the best
possible chance of weaning themselves off drugs. It worked to such an extent that crime levels related to drugs fell and plateaued.
“After the financial crash and after the Conservative government came in and were making savings across the piece, that budget wasn't ringfenced anymore,” the peer told The Power List. “The first thing to go was that budget because you're using that money to provide other care, not for drug users. It was fairly obvious to me once you took that away, what would happen, that would begin to reverse. I made that argument, and the counter argument was made. Things are fine. Drug use is plateauing, drug use has gone down, drug related death is dropping. Last month (November 2024), the question was asked in the House of Lords by one of the bishops about drug related deaths. The figure for drug related deaths is the highest ever recorded since we've been collecting these figures, and we know drug related crime is going up and we know drug use is on the rise. So, it's a short sightedness about working to two-to-three-year time scales or now time scale not seeing long term investment.”
Patel’s resilience is further demonstrated by his tenure at Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The club brought him in as interim chair after the scandal of racism at the way it dealt with cricketer, Azeem Rafiq. Some parts of the press and those involved in cricket tried to destroy him, he told our sister paper, Eastern Eye. Even so, he still smiles as he recalled his tenure. “It's very hard to not love cricket,” he said. “Yeah, I'm still watching it, but lessons learned. It's good to sit back and analyse and think what have we learnt? How can I do things better in the future, do things differently? I had a very simple job at Yorkshire, and that very simple job was making sure Yorkshire County Cricket Club was not obliterated, and I would like to think I did that.”
Patel's voice carried both the weight of experience and the optimism of someone who believes in progress when discussing these challenges. “I think we'll always move forward, but it'd be naive to think there won’t be many, many, many more Azeem Rafiq’s in every sphere of life, and in cricket. Maybe we’ve just learnt to make their experiences not as bad as he experienced.”
Patel continues to work tirelessly, and he is patron of at least 30 charities. He has been president for Royal Society for Public Health for the past 10 years. He chairs several organisations including The India Business Group, developing relationships between institutions in the UK institutions and India. The peer’s work with Cygnet Healthcare and his role with the British Board of Film Classification are just two avenues through which he continues to make a difference. But here is the biggest surprise. Patel revealed his love of horror films. “Sadly, my favourite film is The Exorcist, and it always has been since 1976. I love horror movies, and this is the greatest classic horror movie ever made and nothing's touched it since. I'd love to be scared, it’s not very often I am. We all have our genres. Some people like musicals and comedies, I just love horror movies.”
As our conversation drew to a close, it was clear that Patel's journey was far from over. His efforts to make the world a better place are not just aspirational but deeply rooted in action and impact. “You have to believe as the human race we'll always do the right thing,” he concluded, his optimism undimmed by the challenges ahead. The Power List suggested his life could be summed up in the headline, “I just want to make the world a better place”. “Yes,” he agreed, “and I want to play my part in making the worlds a better place. It may only be a small part, but I think if all of us played our part, the world would be a better place.”
