Kanishka Narayan

Kanishka Narayan (born c.1991) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for the Vale of Glamorgan since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he gained the seat from Conservative Alun Cairns.

Early life and education
Narayan was born in Bihar, India. His family moved to Cardiff when he was 12 years old and he grew up in the city. He spend one year at Cathays High School, but then went to Eton College in Berkshire with help of a scholarship. He studied PPE at Balliol College, Oxford before gaining an MBA from Stanford University in the USA.

Narayan says he joined the Labour Party when he was 18.

Career
Narayan was a civil servant in the Cabinet Office under David Cameron and also at the Environment Department under Liz Truss. He has also worked in the private sector giving financial advice to businesses.

Narayan has also volunteered with the Citizens Advice and The Trussell Trust.

Political Career
In 2023 Narayan moved from Cardiff to live on the Waterfront in Barry, in the Vale of Glamorgan, a couple of weeks after being selected as the Labour candidate for the Vale of Glamorgan constituency.

Narayan won the Vale of Glamorgan vote in the July 2024 general election, becoming Wales' first ethnic minority MP. The BBC described it as "one of the most significant developments since Lady Megan Lloyd George became the first woman MP from Wales, back in 1929".