Monica Sharma shares a route map for political success

In a context in which young Black and Asian women are seriously breaking new political ground, Monica Sharma sets an example of passion and determination. At the young age of 23, she has been able to attain a degree in International Politics from City University, and pave a path for herself inside politics by working for two MPs and now a Peer.

The most important detail of this story is that Sharma, the daughter of Indian immigrants, has been able to find success for herself, whilst being a role model for others.

When Sharma decided to enter politics, she did so knowing that she was entering an unknown world. Her parents, small business owners, were rarely engaged in politics, so Sharma did not enjoy access to a network of people that could make her journey easier. She knew she would have to work a little bit harder than everyone else to make her dreams in government come true, but she also knew that it was a journey worth making.

At university, Sharma worked part time at a retail store, and even achieved a managerial position, all while also excelling in her classes; yet, she quickly realized that she was getting too comfortable and that this route would not take her into government.

Therefore, she made the controversial decision of quitting her job in order to dedicate all of her free time to applying to positions within politics. Quitting was a difficult decision to make because she needed the job to keep herself financially afloat, but she knew that this was the only way to push herself in the direction of her dream, and it proved a vital step.

The next part of her journey didn’t come without obstacles either, recalling her challenges she highlights:

I always found that I didn’t always have the strongest background: I didn’t study at Cambridge and my parents always supported me with my education, but they didn’t have a background in politics.”

Nevertheless, she was able to attain a volunteer position working for Emily Thornberry MP, and has only moved up from there. She has worked with Virendra Sharma MP, and now she works for Lord Bilimoria. Throughout her search for parliamentary work though, and not unlike others, she received many rejections. Undeterred, she picked herself up and continued until the door of opportunity opened.

Currently, Sharma is working as the Executive Researcher for entrepreneur Lord Karan Bilimoria. She attained this position at a point in her life when she wasn’t looking for another job:

I was working for an MP and it doesn’t get better than that,”

or so she thought at the time; but when the opportunity arose, she realised that there was an entire side of government that she wasn’t familiar with, so she decided to apply and received the position.

Working for Lord Bilimoria was a big change for Sharma. She was used to working for MPs, who represent constituencies in Parliament and not for Peers, who are fairly independent. She explains:

“They bring their expertise to the House and are not responsible for responding directly to constituents’ interests and concerns.”

As for Lord Bilimoria:

“He makes a difference based on what he has learned from the past; and since he is a Crossbench Peer, he doesn’t make decisions based on party politics, but based on what he finds right.”

Moreover, as Lord Bilimoria’s Executive Researcher, Sharma is not exclusively involved with the political side of Lord Bilimoria’s career; she also gets to help him with his philanthropic work in India and projects with the the Cobra Beer Foundation. These are two sectors that she would have not gotten to be involved with if it wasn’t for this position.

Sharma has also been able to deepen her professional skills in this position. She helps with Lord Bilimoria’s speeches and is responsible for briefing him before he makes an appearance, so her writing skills have improved substantially. She is now used to working long hours because she has to keep up with him. What’s more, seeing him get involved in so many endeavours inspires her to work harder and do more.

Sharma points out:

He puts his heart into everything he does and if he does something he does it properly. To work with someone like that is only inspiring and you can only push yourself to do more and work as hard as you can.”

Sharma knows that there are obstacles for minorities in the UK, but this is not a reason to isolate ourselves. Her desire is for BME communities, particularly the young, to establish connections that can help us move forward. It’s sad that we often lack the confidence to knock on doors because we don’t think we have what it takes to reach high positions, but we do, and she attests to this fact.

At such a young age, Sharma still has many experiences to go through, and many more bridges to cross. Right now her interest lies in international development and women’s rights; and she has also thought about attaining a Master’s degree. Whatever it is that she ends up doing, we know one thing for sure: this will not be the last time we hear from Monica Sharma and OBV will be watching closely.

Angelica Encinales