Virendra Sharma was born on 5 April 1947 in Mandhali, Nawanshahr in the Punjab Province of British India into a Punjabi Hindu Brahmin family.

[4] Sharma came to Hanwell, Ealing, London from India in 1968 and became a bus conductor on the 207 route, later working as a day services manager for people with learning disabilities in Hillingdon.

[6] In November 2008, Sharma was appointed as Parliamentary private secretary (PPS)[7] to the Minister of State at the Treasury and Home Office, Phil Woolas.

[7] Sharma resigned from this post in January 2009 in opposition to the Labour government's proposal to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

[11][12] In July 2017, Sharma voted against the bill on triggering Article 50 in the House of Commons, expressing his concern over Brexit's potential effects on the economy.

[13] In March 2019, Sharma lost a vote of no-confidence at his Constituency Labour Party: the reasons given by opponents were his low attendance at party meetings, slow response to constituents communications and unwillingness to campaign against toxic emissions from the redevelopment of the Old Gasworks site (Southall Waterside).