by Rachel Ogbu

Nigerian-British Kate Osamor born to a political activist mother who was a member of the Black Sections in the Labour party (1980s) was last week re-elected into Parliament representing Edmonton.

Osamor, whose career history includes working for a homeless people magazine called The Big Issue and for the National Health Service (NHS) joined politics in 2015 and won a seat in the House of Commons for Edmonton constituency following the retirement of its Labour MP

Her victory at the election didn’t go unnoticed as it increased Labour’s majority from 9,613 to 15,419. She also won the respect of labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn and her loyalty to her leader saw her make the move as one of the 36 Labour MPs who nominated him as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015.

Corbyn returned the favour in 2016 when he appointed Kate Osamor to the Official Opposition frontbench as Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities and again on June 27, 2016, after the resignations of dozens of Labour’s ministerial team because of disquiet over Corbyn’s leadership, Osamor was moved to the position of Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.

For many who might question Osamor’s loyalty to Corbyn, perhaps it might help to know she is very 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. She has been quoted as proposing: “We must stand together in solidarity with refugees worldwide.” She also has firm opinions on student fees, the Trident nuclear weapons programme, and on welcoming refugees.

Just after she was announced winner of this year’s election, she gave a victory speech saying, “It has been the greatest honour of my life to represent you in parliament. The fact that I’m here again thanking you is because of hope for the next generation, many young people who voted for the first time, who are full of hope.”

She continues to argue for much fuller representation of Black and Ethnic Minority communities in political bodies, especially in Parliament.