Indarjit Singh

Singh was born in 1932 at Rawalpindi, then in the British Indian province of the Punjab, and came to England with his parents in 1933. His father was a medical doctor. After attending Bishop Vesey's Grammar School in Sutton Coldfield, he studied engineering at Birmingham University. Between 1955 and 1975, he worked in mining and civil engineering for the National Coal Board, for construction company Costain as a mine manager in India, and in local government in London.

He has advised, or been a member of, official bodies, including the Commission for Racial Equality and the Home Secretary’s Advisory Council on Race Relations. He is Director of the Network of Sikh Organisations (UK) and regularly represents the Sikh community at civic occasions such as the Commonwealth Service and the Remembrance Day Service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London. King Charles III, Anglican bishops and the Metropolitan police have consulted him. He is prominent in the national and international interfaith movement, a patron of the World Congress of Faiths and an executive committee member of the Inter Faith Network UK. He was invited to the wedding of Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton and the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla as a representative for the Sikh faith.[1]

His participation in the Thought for the Day feature on BBC Radio 4's Today programme lasted from around 1984 to 2019. He left after editorial disagreements with the BBC.[2]

In 1989, he received the Templeton Award for services to spirituality. In 1991 he received the Inter faith Medallion for services to religious broadcasting. In 2004, he joined Benjamin Zephaniah and Peter Donohoe in being awarded an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Laws) from the University of Leicester. He came second to Bob Geldof in the BBC Radio 4's 2004 People's Lord poll.[3] An Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) since June 1996,[4] Singh was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.[5][6]

On the recommendation of the House of Lords Appointments Commission,[7] he was created a Crossbench (independent) life peer on 12 October 2011 taking the title Baron Singh of Wimbledon, of Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton.[8] He was introduced in the House of Lords on 24 October 2011,[9] being the first member of the House of Lords to wear a turban.[10] In the introduction ceremony, his Senior Supporter was The Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws and his Junior Supporter was The Lord Carey of Clifton. Singh received a coat of arms with a baronial coronet and, notably, the Khanda as his crest.

Lord Singh was chosen to present the Royal Glove to the King at the 2023 Coronation.[11]

Coat of arms of Indarjit Singh

Notes The coat of arms displays two mottos: "Manas ki jat sabhe eke paichanbo" and its English translation, "Recognise the oneness of our human family".[12] Crest The Khandra Azure Escutcheon Azure a representation of the Golden Temple at Amritsar Proper and in base two Sikh Swords crossed in saltire Argent surmounted at the intersection by a quill pen palewise Or. Supporters Dexter a lion armed Or resting the interior foot on a miner's lamp enflamed Proper sinister a lioness Armed Or resting the interior foot on a closed book Azure edged Or.[13]

Lord Singh is married to Kawaljit Singh OBE. They have two daughters and five grandchildren.

• Profile at Faith and Media
• Profile at Parliament website
• Honorary doctorate
• "What God thinks of the world" (BBC News website)