Editing Nirj Deva (section)

{{Short description|British politician (born 1948)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Nirj Deva
| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRSA|DL}}
| image = Nirj Deva UNDP 2010.jpg
| imagesize = 
| caption = Deva in 2010
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|05|11|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Colombo]], [[Dominion of Ceylon]]
| birthname = Niranjan Joseph De Silva Deva Aditya
| citizenship = [[Sri Lanka]] and [[United Kingdom]]
| spouse = Indra
| children = 1
| residence = [[London]]
| office = [[Member of the European Parliament]] <br />for [[South East England (European Parliament constituency)|South East England]]
| term_start =10 June 1999
| term_end = 1 July 2019
| predecessor = ''Position established''
| successor = [[Belinda de Lucy]]
| constituency_MP2 = [[Brentford and Isleworth]]
| parliament2 = United Kingdom
| majority2 = 
| predecessor2 = [[Barney Hayhoe]]
| successor2 = [[Ann Keen]]
| term_start2 = 9 April 1992
| term_end2 = 8 April 1997
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| otherparty = [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group|European Conservatives and Reformists]]
| website = {{URL|http://www.nirjdeva.co.uk/|www.nirjdeva.co.uk}}<br />[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/4556/Nirj_DEVA_home.html European Parliament]
}}
'''Niranjan Joseph De Silva Deva Aditya''' (born 11 May 1948), known as '''Nirj Deva''', is a British politician.  A member of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], he served as a [[Member of the European Parliament]] for [[South East England (European Parliament constituency)|South East England]] from 1999 to 2019. He was a [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Member of Parliament]] (MP) in the British [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] from 1992 to 1997, for the seat of [[Brentford and Isleworth]].

Deva was born in [[Sri Lanka]] into a politically active family and was raised in Britain. He was the fifth Asian-born person to be elected a Member of the House of Commons, and in 1999 became the second so-born to be elected as a Conservative to the [[European Parliament]] which operates via a party list system. In November 2011 Deva became the [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group|European Conservatives and Reformists]] Group's candidate for [[President of the European Parliament]], following three UN-related roles, representing the European Union, in the 2005 to 2006 period.<ref name="The man to stop Schulz">{{cite web|url=http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/the-man-to-stop-schulz-/72527.aspx|accessdate=2011-12-03|title=The man to stop Schulz?}}</ref><ref name="BBC Democracy Live">{{cite web|title=European parliament presidential hustings|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/europe/newsid_9676000/9676854.stm|publisher=[[BBC]] [[Democracy Live]]|date=17 January 2012}}</ref>