UK Election Countdown June 2017 - 5 Nigerians to watch out for...
For the first time in the history of the British Politicians; more Nigerians are standing up to be counted in the June General Election.
As the Conservative Party start to prepare for the final battle with Labour Party, the following British-Nigerians are making headways in the campaign
Kate Osamor - Edmonton Constituency
Bim Afolami - Hitchin and Harpenden
Chi Onwurah - Newcastle Upon Tyne Central
Chuka Umunna - Streatham
Temi Olodo - Erith and Thamesmead
Kemi Badenoch - Saffron Walden
Chinyelu Susan "Chi" Onwurah
She (born 12 April 1965) is a British Labour Party politician , who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central , succeeding the previous Labour MP Jim Cousins , who had decided to step down. [3] She is Newcastle's first black MP. [4] She is the current Shadow Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills, as well as Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, having been appointed to both posts in September 2015
My maternal grandfather was a sheet metal worker in the shipyards of the Tyne during the depression. My mother grew up in poverty in Garth Heads on the quayside. In the fifties she married my father, a Nigerian student at Newcastle Medical School. In 1965 I was born, whilst they were living in Long Benton where my father had a dental practise. I was still a baby when my father took us to live in Awka, Nigeria. .But two years later the Biafran Civil War broke out bringing famine with it and, as described vividly in an Evening Chronicle article in 1968, my mother, my brother and sister and I returned as refugees to Newcastle, whilst my father stayed on in the Biafran army.
This early experience of the impact of war on ordinary families left me with a strong sense of my own good fortune in living in a peaceful parliamentary democracy where it is possible to bring about change without taking up the gun or the sword. I am not a pacifist, I believe that our country is worth defending and fighting for. But we do live in a democracy and, increasingly, there are international institutions at the European and global level to enable us to pursue and defend our legitimate interests through debate and discussion.
I benefited from a comprehensive, inspirational and free education for which I will always be grateful. I attended Hillsview nursery, infants and junior schools. A good start in a good school is critical in determining a child’s experience of education and the opportunities that it can bring. At Hillsview I learnt to enjoy learning, and to think that anything was possible. My mother made sure I understood how lucky I was to be able to walk two hundred yards to a great school when some children had to walk for hours to share a classroom with a hundred others.
At 11 I went to Kenton Comprehensive School. I studied for my O and A levels, but also played for our netball and hockey teams, had my first taste of public speaking and learnt to play the saxophone moderately badly. My education enabled me to hold my own with people from every walk of life, and to earn my living doing something I love, engineering. I want every child in Newcastle to have that opportunity. When I was 17 I was elected Kenton School’s MP in a mock election.
Newcastle’s great industrial past was my inspiration to become an engineer and I enjoyed a fulfilling career in engineering after I graduated from Imperial College in 1987. I worked in hardware and software development, product management, market development and strategy for a variety of mainly private sector companies in a number of different countries – UK, France, US, Nigeria, Denmark..During this time I also studied for an MBA from Manchester Business School and gained Chartered Engineering status. As an engineer I specialised in building out infrastructure in new markets and standardising wholesale Ethernet access. My last role before entering parliament was as head of Telecoms Technology for Ofcom the Communications Regulator
I have always campaigned for the causes I believed in. As a student I campaigned against the Federation of Conservative Students at Imperial College. Later I was very active in the Anti Apartheid Movement, and spent many years on its National Executive, and that of its successor organisation, ACTSA. Anti apartheid was one of the most successful popular movements ever and undermines the claims of those that believe real people are never interested in politics. People are interested in the politics that matters to them. Before being selected as Labour’s candidate for Newcastle I was on the Advisory Board of the Open University Business School, reflecting my belief in educational opportunity at every stage in life and for every level of ability.
Outside of politics and work I enjoy music, reading and long walks in the countryside.
Temitope Olodo
Temitope Olodo is a Preventive Terrorism Consultant and Strategist based in the United Kingdom and author of many books including "ABC of Election Strategy" and "The Rules of Engagement".
Fondly called Temmy, he was born in Islington, London in the 60s and he managed to excel in his chosen profession as a Civil Servant working for Her Majesty Government working up to Assistant Director in UK Border Agency and later in The Office for Security and Counter Terrorism (OSCT) managing project targeting vulnerable individual inspired by Al Qaeda doctrines and Seconded to London 2012 Olympic project working on Cross-Border Crime before resigning to commence private consultancy.
He was a former Special Police Constable with Kent Police with over 15 years experience that spans the public, private and voluntary sector; developing immense skills and practical experience in the area of performance management, counter terrorism, diversity, project management, community engagement and strategic thinking.
Temmy holds two degrees in Political Science BSc (Hons) and LLB in Law (Hons) respectively with a Masters in Human Resources from London South Bank University.
He is very active in the community on security related matters and a prolific speaker who is regularly on TV/Radio commenting on public issues.
Bim Afolami:
A former lawyer, Afolami now works as a senior executive at HSBC. He is a primary school governor, and a support of charities which focus on helping people return to work. He contested Lewisham Deptford in the 2015 General Election, is a former Treasurer of the Bow Group and was Vice President of the Oxford Union. He has previously worked for Howard Flight and for George Osborne.
From my first job at McDonald’s aged 16 to my current one as a member of the London Assembly, my diverse career and background has demonstrated my ability to connect with voters on a broad range of issues.
I’ve been a secretary, maths tutor, and shop assistant, also taking on an Engineering apprenticeship before studying Engineering at Sussex University . I was once the only woman on a building site with 300 men!
I was awarded a prize by the Department for Trade and Industry for my work on Thermal Analysis at ElektroMagnetix Ltd, an incubator growth company. I became Chartered in 2007 and have worked on major technology change programmes in public sector organisations like the NHS, as well as leading UK corporations in transport and financial services.
When I worked as an Associate Director at Coutts, I led teams on a range of regulatory and digital strategic projects. I have an interest in regulatory policy and legislative issues and completed an LLB in Law from the University of London in 2009.
Before joining the GLA, I was Head of Digital at the Spectator and Apollo Magazines, where I redesigned and delivered the digital strategy for these two publications.
I’m a member of the British Computer Society and the Women’s Engineering Society.
Kate Osamor
Sheis a graduate of the University of East London and Member of Parliament for Edmonton. After leaving UEL with a BA degree in Third World Studies Kate worked for the Big Issue, a magazine sold by homeless and long-term unemployed people. She later worked for 15 years in the National Health Service. In 2014 Kate was elected as a member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party and in 2015 as MP for Edmonton.
Following the election campaign, Kate went on to become the new MP for Edmonton.
Election Day produced a 62.6% turnout (41,338). Kate received 25,388 votes, increasing the Labour majority from 9,613 to 15,419.
She was recently appointed into the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.
Kate has been particularly active in campaigns such as Women for Refugee Women's, Set Her Free campaign to end the detention of women who seek asylum in the UK. Alongside compulsory “academisation” of schools and to save Accident and Emergency services at London hospitals. She has strong views on student fees, the Trident nuclear weapons programme, and on welcoming refugees, proposing: “We must stand together in solidarity with refugees worldwide.”
Since Kate has been in Parliament, Kate has consistently used her voice as an MP to speak out for the most vulnerable in society; using her speeches in debates to highlight the impact policies will have on BME communities and working-class women. She has been actively involved in campaigning against Yarl’s Wood Immigration Detention Centre: she visited the centre in November 2015 and led a Westminster Hall debate on healthcare in Yarl’s Wood.
Kate argues for much fuller representation of Black and Ethnic Minority communities in political bodies, especially in Parliament.
Who’s running for MP in Erith and Thamesmead at the 2017 general election?
Who’s running for MP in Erith and Thamesmead at the 2017 general election?
By Luke May
Britain goes to the polls on June 8