Former England spinner Monty Panesar is to stand as a parliamentary candidate for George Galloway's Labour Party in the next general election.
Panesar, who was born in Luton and played 50 Tests for England, taking 167 wickets at 34.71, will stand in Ealing Southall. The constituency has been a Labour stronghold since 2007. It is held by Vivendra Sharma. Sharma currently holds a majority of over 16,000 in a constituency whose population will be almost a third (30 per cent) Asian according to the 2021 census.
Panesar said in a column in The Telegraph:
"I want to be the voice for the workers of this country. My aspiration in politics is to one day become Prime Minister, where I would make Britain a safer and stronger nation. But the first job at hand is to represent the people of Ealing Southall."
Galloway returned to the Commons in March after winning the Rochdale by-election following the death of the previous incumbent, Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd. On Tuesday morning, Galloway confirmed that Panesar, 42, would be unveiled as one of his party's candidates at a press event outside the Houses of Parliament.
Panesar, whose full name is Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, became the first practising Sikh to represent England in 2006 when he was selected in Nagpur for the first Test of that winter's tour of India.
Since retiring, he has been studying sports journalism at St Mary's University in London, and earlier this month lent his support to the Show Racism the Red Card campaign by appearing in a video promoting the benefits of immigration.
In 2021, he defended his former England captain Michael Vaughan after he was accused of racially abusing Azeem Rafiq while playing for Yorkshire in 2009.