Lord Dolar Popat 2021 Speaker

UK Trade Envoy to Rwanda, Uganda and Congo

House of Lords

Biography

Lord Popat is a Conservative peer at the House of Lords and has been the UK Trade Envoy for Rwanda and Uganda since 2016.

He was born in Uganda and arrived in the United Kingdom in 1971, a year before the expulsion of many Indians from Uganda. After practising as an accountant in the late 1970s, Lord Popat specialised in business and corporate finance.

On 12 July 2010 Lord Popat was ennobled on the recommendation of the Prime Minister Rt Hon David Cameron MP, for his services to small and medium sized businesses and to the wider community. He took the title of Lord Popat of Harrow as it was there that his parents lived when they moved to Britain.

Lord Popat’s main interests in the House of Lords are the Commonwealth, in particular Africa and India, and small businesses issues. Lord Popat has led several British delegations to Rwanda and Uganda, including two in 2019. In October 2020, Lord Popat was also appointed as the Trade Envoy to Congo.