page_title: Alok Sharma
section_title: Political positions
hierarchical_section_title: Alok Sharma / Political positions
caption_attribution_description: English: Newly appointed Secretary of State for International evelopment Alok Sharma MP is greeted on arrival at DFID by Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft.
context_page_description: Alok Sharma is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy since 2020. A member of the Conservative Party, he previously served as International Development Secretary from 2019 to 2020. Sharma has served as the Member of Parliament for Reading West since 2010.
  Sharma previously served as Housing Minister between 2017 and 2018, and as Employment Minister from 2018 to 2019.
caption: Sharma with DFID Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft in 2019.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D Mark IV", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Lightroom 2.3 (Macintosh)", "Image DateTime": "2019:07:24 21:36:30", "Image Artist": "DFID", "Image Copyright": "DFID", "Image ExifOffset": "242", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "916", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "17533", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/40", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "8000", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "8000", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0231", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2019:07:24 21:35:38", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2019:07:24 21:35:38", "EXIF OffsetTime": "+01:00", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "665241/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "47", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "37", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "37", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "61166933/32768", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "61166933/32768", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "093055003048", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[24, 105, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "00001b94bd"}