 niranjan joseph de silva deva aditya frsa dl (born 11 may 1948; commonly known as nirj deva) is a politician from the united kingdom. a member of the conservative party, he has been a member of the european parliament representing south east england since 1999. he was previously a member of parliament (mp) in the british house of commons from 1992 to 1997, representing the constituency of brentford and isleworth. deva was born in sri lanka into a politically active family, and was raised in britain. he was only the fourth asian-born person to be elected a member of the house of commons, and was the first asian-born person to be elected as a conservative member of the european parliament. ==family background and education== deva was born in colombo, sri lanka, to a leading family of rajasthani (indian) descent, and is a roman catholic. he spent his primary and secondary education at st. joseph's college, which is a leading catholic school in colombo. he holds sri lankan and british citizenship, and speaks sinhalese and english. deva was educated at loughborough university, where he completed a degree in aeronautical engineering and was subsequently a postgraduate research fellow in economics. ==british parliament== deva stoo
1948_births Alumni_of_Loughborough_University British_politicians_of_South_Asian_descent Conservative_Party_(UK)_MEPs Conservative_Party_(UK)_MPs Deputy_Lieutenants_of_Greater_London English_people_of_Sri_Lankan_descent Living_people MEPs_for_the_United_Kingdom_1999a2004 MEPs_for_the_United_Kingdom_2004a09 MEPs_for_the_United_Kingdom_2009a14 MEPs_for_the_United_Kingdom_2014a19 Members_of_the_Bow_Group Members_of_the_European_Parliament_for_English_constituencies Members_of_the_Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom_for_English_constituencies People_from_Colombo Sri_Lankan_Roman_Catholics Sri_Lankan_emigrants_to_the_United_Kingdom Sri_Lankan_people_of_Indian_descent UK_MPs_1992a97