Ranil Jayawardena of Sri Lanka Origin Re-Elected to UK Parliament from North East Hampshire Constituency with 28,000 Votes

Ranil Jayawardena
Source: The Times of Sri Lanka (Published in Canada)

London-born Ranil Jayawardena whose father is of Sri Lankan origin, was re-elected from the Conservative Party to the British parliament from the North East Hampshire constituency with a healthy majority of almost 28,000 votes. Jayawardena who first won this seat at the 2015 general election got 65.6 per cent of the votes cast garnering 37,754 votes, up from the 35,573 votes he received in 2015.

His majority this time was slightly diminished but way ahead of his closest rival. Jayawardena who was previously a local councillor serving as deputy leader of the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane before he took to national politics served on the Commons’ Home Affairs Committee after he entered parliament in 2015.

The Labour Party’s Thangam Debbonaire whose father is a Sri Lankan Tamil retained the Bristol West constituency winning almost 2/3rd of the vote in a constituency that saw a huge turn out of 77 per cent. She gained 47,213 votes over her Conservative Party rival who obtained 9,877 votes.

Rathy Alagaratnam said to have Sri Lankan connections contested as a candidate of the United Kingdom Independence Party (Ukip) but fared badly in a night that proved disastrous for Ukip which did not win a single seat.

Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena was born in London on September 3, 1986. He studied at Robert May’s School, Odiham, Alton College and London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He has a brother and a sister.

His wife, Alison is a solicitor and they have a daughter, Daisy. He worked for Lloyds Banking Group and serves as a Member, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council – 2008 to 2015 (Cabinet Member 2011-2015 and Deputy Leader 2012-2015).

“I grew up, went to school and still live in North East Hampshire. The Halifax Quality of Life Index has named it as the ‘Best Place to Live in the UK’, and I want to keep it that way. For me, it is all about representing my constituents and making sure their views are heard”, he said in an interview with Sri Express.

Ranil’s father Nalin Jayawardena said that he came to England in the latter part of the 1970s to finish his accountancy exams. After completing his studies, he worked as a financial regulator. Later, he started his own Financial Consultancy firm.

He met his wife Indira, who is of Indian origin, in the UK. She did her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She works as an Educational Welfare Officer in Hampshire County Council. Ranil is the eldest child. He has a sister, Thushani and a brother, Ravindra.

“Our ancestors had a lot of connections to politics in Sri Lanka. Henry Jayawardane was a Village Council Chairman for Munwatta in the Bulathsinhala electorate. Daisy Abeywickrema had three brothers in politics.

Her elder brother, Simon Abeywickrema, won Udugama electorate and was a Deputy Minister in the D. S. Senanayake government. Her second brother, Henry Abeywickrema won Baddegama electorate and was the Deputy Minister for Transport in SWRD Bandaranaike government. Daisy’s youngest brother Vincent Abeywickrema was a village headman.