Party is a union where enterprise, hard work and social responsibility are respected and encouraged, and that these are values which the British Indians naturally share. He has worked to bridge the gap between the Conservative Party and the British Indian community and believes that the Party and the community will mutually benefit from a deeper and sustained engagement and understanding. In 2009 Lord Popat was honoured with an award at the Asian Political and Public Life Awards at the House of Commons by the Conservative Party's then chairman, Eric Pickles MP, for promoting the Conservative Party in the community. In May, 2010 it was announced that he would be ennobled on the recommendation of David Cameron, for his services to small and medium-sized businesses and to the wider community. He was created a life peer on 10 July 2010 taking the title Baron Popat of Harrow in the London Borough of Harrow, since it was there that his parents lived upon arriving in the UK. On 31 March 2011 he made his maiden speech in the Upper House, contributing to a debate about economic growth. He was the first chairman of the Conservative Friends of India, an organisation launched by the then Prime Minister, David Cameron in April 2012. Lord Popat stood down as chairman for Conservative Friends of India in January 2013, after his appointment as a Government Whip and Lord-in-Waiting. During this time helped to establish a Select Committee, chaired by Lord Cope of Berkeley – examining ways in which the Government can help SMEs to export, and on 6 December he held his first debate in the House of Lords, marking the 40th anniversary of the expulsion of the Ugandan Asians. Popat was appointed a Government Whip and Minister of the Crown in January 2013, succeeding Viscount Younger of Leckie. Lord Popat was also appointed a Lord-in-Waiting and made the Government Spokesperson in the House of Lords for the Department for Business, Skills and Innovation and the Department for Transport until May 2015. In February 2013, Lord Popat accompanied the Prime Minister, David Cameron on the British trade delegation to India. In January 2016, he was appointed as the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Rwanda and Uganda. Lord Popat considers himself a "child of Africa" and in January 2016 he was appointed as the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Rwanda and Uganda – the latter being