Alok is very much a local Reading man. He grew up in Earley and Whitley Wood and went to school in Reading.

Elected in 2010 for Reading West, with one of the largest swings to the Conservatives in the country, Alok has served as a member of the Commons Treasury select committee, a member of the Commons Science and Technology select committee, a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Treasury and at the Cabinet Office. From 2012-15 he served as a Conservative Party Vice Chairman.  Alok was appointed in 2016 as the Prime Minister's Infrastructure Envoy to India and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from July 2016 to June 2017.

In June 2017 Alok was appointed as Minister of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government with responsibility for housing. In January 2018 he was promoted to Minister of State for Employment. In July 2019, he was promoted by new Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Secretary of State for International Development. In February 2020 he was again promoted to Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Prior to entering Parliament, Alok qualified as a chartered accountant with Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte, and then worked for 16 years within banking, first with the Japanese firm Nikko Securities and then Enskilda Securities (the investment banking arm of SE Banken), where he held senior roles based out of London, Stockholm and Frankfurt, including serving as a member of the bank's Corporate Finance Global Management Committee.

Alok has run many campaigns with local groups and constituents to ensure that Reading is a great place to continue to live and run a business.

Alok has also successfully campaigned to deliver government investment in local infrastructure, including improvements at Reading, Tilehurst, Theale, Pangbourne and Reading West stations and the extension of Crossrail to Reading, as well as campaigning to increase the number of Standard Class carriages on First Great Western trains. He has helped to deliver funding to cut road congestion and for flood alleviation projects across west Reading, including the Purley Bund.

Alok has worked with local school and parent groups, like All Saints Junior School, The Wren School and Purley Primary School, to deliver extra government funding and ensure that we have much needed extra school places being created.

Alok has worked with local campaign groups to fight unsustainable development on green spaces like Pincents Hill and scale back housing on the Bath Road Reservoir site. He is committed to campaigning against any unsustainable development across Reading West.

Alok is a big supporter of local businesses. He has supported businesses like the Tesco Distribution Centre in Whitley to deliver new jobs in Reading and has organised local business export seminars, helped deliver reductions in business rates for local businesses and campaigned for faster broadband.

A keen supporter of local charities, faith groups and volunteers across Reading, he has championed the excellent and selfless work they all do.

Alok is married and lives in Reading Borough with his wife, two daughters and his dog Olly.