Hajira Piranie
Credit: X/@HajiraPiranie
London: An Indian-origin Labour Party candidate is drawing upon a very personal experience of surviving sepsis with the country’s state-funded healthcare service in her campaign for the July 4 general election to be elected from her hometown in Leicestershire, East Midlands.
Hajira Piranie, whose mother hails from Maharashtra and her grandparents on her father’s side from Gujarat, is busy campaigning to be elected as a first-time member of Parliament from the Harborough, Oadby & Wigston constituency in southern Leicestershire.
One of her campaign themes is to highlight that safeguarding the National Health Service (NHS) is more than just a slogan for her and that only a Labour Party-led government, which first created the NHS 76 years ago, can tackle the waiting lists faced by patients.
“In 2019, I survived sepsis and it was a difficult time as my lungs had collapsed and I was on a ventilator fighting for my life,” said Piranie.
“I have been campaigning for the UK Sepsis Trust as their Ambassador and raising awareness, specifically within our South Asian communities, on picking up on the symptoms of sepsis. It is a big reason why I’m a Labour candidate because it is the party that created the NHS and we are the only party that can save it and get people those appointments when they need it to save their lives,” she said.
As a mother of a three-year-old, in her late 20s, Piranie has also been actively involved with the work of a charity in Maharashtra with links in the UK that supports victims of human trafficking.
“As a young mother, it’s about creating a better future for my son and the next generation. This ties in with my Indian heritage because as Indians, we’re proud to be the voice for those who don’t feel like they have a voice,” she said.
“I’m deeply connected to my Indian roots. I visit India very often to visit my family there and I also work with organisations there like Kshamta, which is linked to a charity here called Kindled Spirit where I’m a trustee, helping survivors of human trafficking in Mumbai. I’m so proud that the values that have been instilled in me from my family have brought me here as a British Indian parliamentary candidate,” she shared.
Asked about how confident she feels about overturning the Conservative Party hold in her constituency, Piranie reiterated the Labour line of “change” and welcomed the snap summer election as an opportunity to convince the electorate.
She added: “It’s important that we use our voice to affect change. We’ve had 14 years of chaos. It’s time for the Labour Party to bring stability back into our country.
“If I’m elected, it would be my job to listen and be an accessible, visible member of Parliament, not just at election time but throughout.” Piranie is among several Indian-origin candidates contesting the July 4 general election, with both the main parties finalising their candidate lists for 650 constituencies across the UK.
According to a forecast by the British Future think tank, the next Parliament in Westminster is set to be the most diverse yet – expected to increase the current figure of over a dozen MPs of Indian heritage elected to the House of Commons.