Uma Kumaran, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
ANGUILLA--Uma Kumaran MP has been appointed jointly as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and as Assistant Whip on July 27 2026. She first joined Parliament as a Labour MP for the constituency of Stratford and Bow in 2024.
Her new portfolio includes the Overseas Territories, global tech and AI, and violence against women and girls. She serves as the country’s first Sri Lankan Tamil to hold a ministerial role.
On the same day, her predecessor, Stephen Doughty, who is a minister of state at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, announced that his portfolio will now cover the Middle East and North Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan and sanctions. Doughty has worked as an MP since 2012 and has served as Overseas Territories minister for two years, visiting Bermuda at least twice during his tenure.
He advocated for maintaining a strong relationship between the British Government and its overseas territories, also underscoring their rights to self-determination and autonomy.
