Ashok Kumar (UK politician)

Dr Ashok Kumar (born 28 May 1956, Uttar Pradesh, India) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He is Member of Parliament (MP) for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland and a Chartered Engineer.

Additional recommended knowledge

Guide to balance cleaning: 8 simple steps

Weighing the right way

Recognize and detect the effects of electrostatic charges on your balance

Education and Early Career

He attended Rykneld School for Boys, Derby, UK, then studied Chemical Engineering at Aston University, Birmingham UK, obtaining a BSc in 1978. He stayed on to obtain an MSc in Process Analysis and Control Theory in 1979, and a PhD in Fluid Mechanics in 1982. The thesis title was "Velocity distributions in a plate heat exchanger". He is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Energy Institute.

He began his career as a Research Fellow at Imperial College London (1982-1985) then worked as a Research Scientist at British Steel, Middlesbrough.

Political Career

He began his political career as a Local Councillor for Middlesbrough Borough Council (1987 - 1997). He first became an MP in a 1991 by-election, winning the Langbaurgh constituency but lost his seat to the Conservative party shortly after at the 1992 election. He won his present constituency at the 1997 election.

He is a Member of Parliamentary Scientific Committee; Vice-Chair of Parliamentary Group for Energy Studies; and Chair of Northern Group of Labour MPs.

Other Interests

Ashok Kumar is a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association. He lists his recreations as "Cricket, badminton, reading history and philosophy, listening to jazz"personal website.