Nigel Keith Anthony Standish Vaz (born 26 November 1956) is a British politician who served as the Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester East for 32 years, from 1987 to 2019.

He was Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee from July 2007, but resigned from this role on 6 September 2016 after the Sunday Mirror revealed he had engaged in unprotected sexual activity with male sex workers and had said he would pay for cocaine if they wished to use it.

[5] His father, previously a correspondent for The Times of India,[11] worked in the airline industry, while his mother held jobs both as a teacher and simultaneously part-time in Marks & Spencer.

Three other Labour Party Black Sections members, Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant, entered the House of Commons at the same election.

In 1994, the Race Relations (Remedies) Bill, which had first been introduced by Vaz, became law with the support of the UK Government, and which allowed unlimited compensation to be given to those who had suffered racial discrimination.

[18] Vaz signed several early day motions sponsored by David Tredinnick MP supporting the continued funding of homoeopathy on the National Health Service.

[24] In February 2000, the Parliamentary standards watchdog Elizabeth Filkin began an investigation after allegations that Vaz had accepted several thousand pounds from a solicitor, Sarosh Zaiwalla, which he had failed to declare.

[28] In January 2001, immigration minister Barbara Roche revealed in a written Commons reply that Vaz, along with Peter Mandelson and other MPs, had contacted the Home Office about the Hinduja brothers.

Vaz said via a Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spokesman that he would be "fully prepared" to answer questions put to him by Sir Anthony Hammond, QC, who had been asked by the Prime Minister to carry out an inquiry into the affair.

"[32] On 29 January, the government confirmed that the Hinduja Foundation had held a reception for Vaz in September 1999 to celebrate his appointment as the first Asian Minister in recent times.

Vaz met Filkin on 20 March to discuss a complaint that the Hinduja Foundation had given £1,200 to Mapesbury Communications, a company run by his wife, in return for helping to organise a Hinduja-sponsored reception at the House of Commons.

She did, however, criticise him for his secrecy, saying, "It is clear to me there has been deliberate collusion over many months between Mr Vaz and his wife to conceal this fact and to prevent me from obtaining accurate information about his possible financial relationship with the Hinduja family".

[38] In 2002, Vaz was suspended from the House of Commons for one month after a Committee on Standards and Privileges inquiry found that he had made false allegations against Eileen Eggington, a former policewoman.

Grestny's statement included allegations that Mr and Mrs Vaz had employed an illegal immigrant as their nanny, and that they had been receiving gifts from Asian businessmen such as the Hinduja brothers.

"We cannot rule out a tactical motivation for Mr Vaz's contact with Leicestershire Constabulary but the evidence does not support further investigation of any attempt to pervert the course of justice.

It also covered Auchi's associate Nasir Abid and stated that, if found guilty of the alleged offences, both men could face 109 years in jail.

In a Commons answer to Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker earlier the same month Vaz confirmed that "details of enquiries by Mr Auchi have been passed to the Home Office".

Although the police dismissed the claim and the only copy found belonged to the victim, Tony Blair said the game was unsuitable for children and agreed to discuss with the Home Secretary what action could be taken.

[45] The sequel, Manhunt 2, described by the British Board of Film Classification as "distinguishable ... by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone", became the first video game banned by the BBFC in the UK for 10 years.

In October 2010, Vaz put down an early day motion noting that the 2009–10 Malmö shootings "have been associated with the violent video game Counter-Strike".

It called on the Government to ensure the purchase of video games by minors was controlled and that parents were provided with clear information on any violent content.

[53] In September 2008, Vaz faced pressure to explain why he failed to declare an interest when he intervened in an official investigation into the business dealings of a close friend, solicitor Shahrokh Mireskandari, who has played a role in several racial discrimination cases against the Metropolitan Police, and who was representing Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur in his racial discrimination case against Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Ian Blair.

Vaz wrote a joint letter with fellow Labour MP Virendra Sharma to the authority's chief executive, Anthony Townsend, in February 2008 on official House of Commons stationery.

"[54] In September 2008, Vaz came under pressure when it was revealed that he had sought the private views of Prime Minister Gordon Brown in connection with the committee's independent report into government plans to extend the detention of terror suspects beyond 28 days.

Shami Chakrabarti, then director of human rights group Liberty, compared it to a judge deciding a case privately emailing one of the parties to seek their suggestions.

[58] New expenses rules published by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority which came into force after the 2010 general election limit the second home allowance to £1,450 a month, i.e. the Westminster cost of renting a one bedroomed flat.

[59] Vaz was one of the members of the Commons who agreed to be on the all-party parliamentary group on Fiji proposed by Patrick Mercer MP as part of his paid advocacy for lobbyists.

In December 2018, local residents received documents instructed by State Administrator Praful Khoda Patel ordering the confiscation of their land and demolition of homes to make way for development.

[79] With 11,000 Damanese living in the Leicester East constituency, members of the community appealed to Keith Vaz, who flew out to Daman to meet Praful Patel.

In January 2019 Vaz reported back: "I believe that Mr Patel has a vision for Daman and he wants to develop it as a tourist and education centre.