Lord Jitesh Gadhia

LORD JITESH GADHIA, who sits as a “non-affiliated peer” in the House of Lords, has many public and private roles. For example, he is a non-executive director on the Court of the Bank of England. He is also a non-executive director at Rolls-Royce Holdings, which has interests in aerospace, defence and power systems, and at the construction group, Taylor Wimpey. Though only 53, he sees his role as acting as a “bridge” between the world of business and parliament, and also between the UK and India. His coat of arms pays homage to Uganda, where he was the born, the UK, his home, and India, the land of his forefathers. He sees Hinduism, his faith, as being a force for bringing people together. He likes to encourage young talent wherever he spots it. At the traditional lunch he hosted in September 2016 when he was formally “introduced” to the House of Lords, his guests included a young MP who had been elected only the previous year in Richmond in Yorkshire in succession to the former Tory leader William Hague. His name was Rishi Sunak, who would rise to become prime minister within six years. Since February 2022, Gadhia has been chairman of the British Asian Trust, a charity which remains close to King Charles’s heart. It was founded by the Prince of Wales in 2007 to “re[1]duce poverty and disadvantage for communities in South Asia”. When Charles succeeded to the throne after the death of the Queen in September 2022, the new monarch admitted he would have to relinquish personal involvement in many of the charities in which he had previously been a patron. But he has made a notable exception for the British Asian Trust. “His Majesty has certainly remained keenly engaged,” Gadhia confirmed enthusiastically. Although Gadhia is very discreet about his royal connections, one senses the King has a high opinion of him and his colleagues at the British Asian Trust, and the feeling is mutual. The King’s cancer diagnosis, following his procedure for an enlarged prostate, has come as a particular shock for the Asian community since Charles has long been considered their protector. But Gadhia now considers it his duty to remain calm and collected and ensure the trust is not neglected because of the King’s enforced seclusion from public engagements. “We have been inundated with messages of support and solidarity with His Majesty and wish him a full and speedy recovery,” he said. He added that he had “witnessed first-hand his passion for, and commitment to, the development of South Asia and engagement with the diaspora communities in the UK. His Majesty has championed many causes and global relationships – often well ahead of his time. Among them is a deep and abiding connection with the countries of the Indian subcontinent. For example, he first visited India in 1975 and has since made nine official trips to the country and has also visited Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.”

After the period of mourning was over, the new King’s first reception was for some 300 members of the British Asian community held at Holyroodhouse, the royal residence in Edinburgh. Gadhia and other members of the trust went to Scotland to attend the gathering. Gadhia also talked about the Coronation Concert at Windsor, “when one of our ambassadors, Katy Perry, gave us an amazing shout out live on stage. That was quite a moment. The King continues to be very, very engaged around all the countries of South Asia.” The peer listed some of the projects that the trust has undertaken. Education and child protection are key areas. “It’s not restricted to India though India is a big area for us. We are using technology to help improve educational outcomes. We are also working with the Asian Development Bank to launch Pakistan’s first development impact bond, which is groundbreaking. We have launched a climate innovation fund in Bangladesh, worth a million dollars and it’s already had about 170 applications. We are sifting through some incredible ideas.” Gadhia is clearly taken seriously by world leaders. “I briefed (Bangladesh) prime minister Sheikh Hasina (Wazed) when she was over here, just after the UN General Assembly, about that – and she was very interested. We are operating in Sri Lanka as well. It’s a pan-Asian footprint that we have. There aren’t that many organisations that have a genuine reach across the diaspora. At the same time, we have to be careful not to import the politics of the subcontinent here.” Gadhia also had a big hand in organising a reception at Buckingham Palace – this was attended by the King – to mark the 50th anniversary of the resettlement of Ugandan Asians in the UK. Photographs show Gadhia introducing The King to senior members of the community, including the late Praful Patel.

Gadhia was born in Kampala, capital of Uganda, on 27 May 1970, came to Britain at the age of two with his family, flourished at school and got into Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, to read economics, and entered the Lords after a career as an investment banker with, among others, Barclays, ABN AMRO, Barings Bank and Blackstone. A huge responsibility was placed on him in October 2022 when he was appointed to the Court of the Bank of England for a four-year period, which can be extended by another four years. He explained: “The court is the overall body responsible for the bank. The policy committees have responsibilities for individual areas. It’s a complex organisation just trying to get your mind around it. With time, it becomes slightly easier. A large part of my mind space last year was taken in getting to understand how the bank works, and contributing to the oversight of that organisation. This is pretty important right now, and has been in the last 12 months given the economic situation.” His responsibilities – and his influence – have increased with passing years. He said: “As a parliamentarian, my main focus has been around trying to build a bridge between the world of business and finance and parliament. The bridge extends into different generations in different geographies, as well as the UK. The business community thinks politicians don’t understand things, and politicians think much the same of the business community. So I try to at least create spaces and forums and dialogues where the two speak to each other. It’s being that bridge that is really important.” Being on the board of RollsRoyce and Taylor Wimpey, two FTSE 100 companies, puts him at the heart of the corporate world. Alongside Baroness Shriti Vadera, who chairs Prudential, these two Ugandan Asians carry the flag for Asian representation in the boardrooms of the largest companies in the UK.

“India is a very important market for RollsRoyce,” stressed Gadhia. “It was Air India which last year ordered one of the world’s largest purchases of aircraft. A large part of that will be using Rolls-Royce engines.” Gadhia was included in the chancellor’s delegation last year when Jeremy Hunt travelled to India for the economic and financial dialogue with his opposite number. As a Remainer, he said: “I remain sceptical in many respects (about Brexit’s advantages) but one of the things that we are now able to do (as a consequence of leaving the European Union) is to have a Free Trade Agreement with India.” He realises that the window for the agreement to be signed before general elections in the UK and in India is disappearing fast but he has not given up hope of a last-minute deal. “Just think of the fifth and sixth largest economies in the world having a free trade agreement. That’s quite a phenomenal moment.” Though he has been a Tory, he is open minded enough to maintain diplomatic relations with senior Labour politicians. “I attended when (Labour’s shadow chancellor) Rachel Reeves spoke in Davos, and she almost sounded like a Tory chancellor. She was emphasising the supply side, things like planning reform, skills, investment. One of their five missions is to be the fastest growing economy in the G7. Hers was a remarkably pro-business message. Now, obviously, it needs to be followed through. So I’m not dewy eyed about it.” Gadhia was giving an interview to GG2 Power List on January 26, India’s Republic Day, which happened to fall on a Friday. The normally bustling corridors of the House of Lords appeared largely empty but Gadhia had sacrificed much of the afternoon to interact with a group of 130 teenage boys and girls from India in a spacious committee room. On a tour of the UK, the group was visiting not only the Lords but the Indian High Commission, the London School of Economics, King’s College London, Imperial College and Oxford University. Very few peers or MPs would give up so much of their time to talk to young people but Gadhia felt he was investing in the best and the brightest from India.

“The reason why I did this is because it’s incredibly inspiring – you don’t normally get a delegation of this size, coming from every part of India, regardless of socio- economic, religious or other backgrounds. They actually go through a competitive process. They worked hard to get their place on it. When you have a country with a 1.4 billion population, it’s going to produce some exceptional people. I know it’s partly a numbers game but you are going to get the most phenomenal talent coming out of India in the coming decades. And hopefully I can play a tiny role in building a bridge with them.” In his address to “the future leaders of India”, he said: “I hope these few days of immersive activity provides you with wide exposure to the UK and helps to promote a better understanding and strengthens the bonds between our two great democracies.” He gave them the Gadhia view of the world: “Like all conceptual frameworks this is inevitably stylised, and a bit contrived – especially my unnatural obsession with the letter D. But it’s amazing how these seven Ds – demographics, deglobalisation, decarbonisation, data & digitalisation, democracy, defence and development – capture the most significant metatrends which are shaping today’s world.” He said: “Western countries, in particular, will be forced to look at immigration to support their ageing populations. With the largest sources of population growth in the global south this should become the natural corridor for migration. I say ‘should’ because, it is not obvious that every western country is prepared for the scale of immigration required. Arguably the exact opposite, with many countries becoming more inward, insular and intolerant.” He went on: “I believe we can trace our current wave of deglobalisation to the 2007-08 financial crisis when it became obvious that many financial institutions were ‘global in life but national in death’ to paraphrase a former governor of the Bank of England. Financial institutions became increasingly localised and the subsequent pandemic necessitated the same pattern for many industry supply chains. Global conflicts and geopolitical rivalry have further amplified the trend creating more polarisation and fragmentation.

He referred to relations with India: “Against this background, it is encouraging that India and the UK are at the advanced stages of negotiating a Free Trade Agreement and perhaps our two countries can set an example for the rest of the world.” Much of his philosophy is rooted in Hinduism. He presented a copy of the Rig Veda, an ancient Indian collection of Sanskrit hymns, to the House of Lords library. “I took my oath on the Rig Veda,” he reminded the Power List “If you understand and appreciate Vedic culture and philosophy, it’s quite profound. It’s pretty appropriate if you’re a British citizen of Indian origin sitting in the House of Lords. It’s a tailor-made motto for you. Vedic philosophy is hugely inclusive.” It took “Baron Gadhia of Northwood” nearly five years to finalise his coat of arms with Sir Thomas Woodcock, the former Garter Principal King of Arms. It features two Asiatic Lions which are found in the Gir National Park in Gadhia’s native state of Gujarat. Each lion is holding a triple-headed spear widely recognised as the trishul in India, a divine symbol connected with various trinities of Hindu spiritual thought. It also invokes Britannia, the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a shield and trident. The shield in the centre of the design is headed by an indented fortress pattern, derived from the prefix of the peer’s family name “Gadh”, meaning fort. The shield features three eternal knots referencing India, Uganda and UK, the countries of Gadhia’s origin, birth and adoption respectively. The endless knot, known as a Srivatsa, has no beginning or end, and is an important ancient symbol in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. At the apex is the ‘crest’ – in Gadhia’s case a lotus flower – surrounded by a ‘mantle’ of peacock feathers, representing the national flower and bird of India respectively. Gadhia’s chosen motto is a Sanskrit phrase from the Rig Veda inscribed in the Devanagari script: “Aano bhadra krtavo yantu vishwatah” which translated means “Let noble thoughts come to me from all directions”