A total of seven Nigerians were elected into the UK parliament after Thursday’s election that saw the Labour Party gain ground on the Conservatives.
Most of them retained their constituencies, having secured victory in the 2015 general election.
They are:
1. Chi Onwurah: The 52-year-old has been the Shadow Minister (department for business, energy and industrial strategy) (Industrial Strategy). She contested in 2010 under the Labour Party and got elected as the Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, replacing the previous Labour MP Jim Cousins, who decided to step down. She is Newcastle’s first black MP.
2. Kate Osamor: In 2014, the 48-year-old was elected a member of the national executive committee of the Labour Party. In June 2016, Osamor was appointed shadow secretary of state for international development
3. Kemi Badenoch: She has been a member of the parliament since September 2015. Badenoch, 38, is the GLA Conservative’s spokesman for the Economy and also sits on the Transport Committee and Policing and Crime Committee.
4. Chuka Umunna: He has been a member of the Parliament for Streatham since 2010. The 38-year-old was adopted as the Labour party’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Streatham in 2008 and polled a majority of 3,259 votes at the 2010 general election, to become an elected member of Parliament for Streatham.
5. Bim Afolami: A conservative politician in the parliament and works as a corporate lawyer. Winning the election, Afolami told Comet: “I’m feeling completely over the moon to be the new MP for Hitchin and Harpenden. It’s such a great feeling. I’m completely honoured. I would like to pay tribute to my opponents who fought a fair and democratic fight.”
6. Fiona Onasanya: She ran on the platform of Labour Party and beat Stewart Johnson of Conservative Party to Peterborough seat in the election. Until her election, she was the deputy leader of the Labour group on the Cambridgeshire County as well as its councillor.
7. Helen Grant: She has served as the Member of Parliament for Maidstone and The Weald since 2010. Grant, who is 55, is the first black woman to be selected to defend a Tory seat and her election in 2010 also made her the Conservatives’ first female black MP.
