Indian-origin Lisa Nandy appointed UK shadow foreign minister

The Labour Party's newly-elected Leader, Sir Keir Starmer, on Sunday named Indian-origin MP Lisa Nandy as his shadow foreign secretary.

Nandy, his contender in the leadership race for Opposition Leader, thanked Starmer for the opportunity to serve.

It's a real honour to be tasked with leading Labour's foreign policy response in these difficult times, she said in a statement.

Starmer's top team will form a new shadow committee, which will be responsible for coordinating Labour's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Nandy, the 40-year-old MP for Wigan in Greater Manchester came in third in the three-way Labour postal ballot on Saturday.

A united and strong Labour Party could not be more important than at this moment. The road back to power is steep but it does not have to be long, Nandy, the daughter of India-born academic Dipak Nandy and a British mother, had said at the end of the contest.