Chi Onwurah

Chi Onwurah MP
Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Jim Cousins
Majority	7,466 (21.9%)
Personal details
Born	12 April 1965 (1965-04-12) (age 46) Wallsend, Northumberland (now Tyne and Wear), England
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Website	www.chionwurahmp.com

Chinyelu Susan "Chi" Onwurah^[1] (born 12 April 1965)^[2] is a British Labour Party politician, who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, replacing the previous Labour MP Jim Cousins, who decided to step down.^[3] She is Newcastle's first black MP.^{[citation needed]}

Early life

During the depression of the 1930s, Onwurah’s maternal grandfather was a sheet metal worker in Tyneside shipyards. Her mother grew up in poverty in Garth Heads on Newcastle’s quayside. Her father, from Nigeria, was working as a dentist while he studied at Newcastle Medical School when they met and married in the 1950s.

Born in 1965, Onwurah's family moved to Awka, Nigeria when she was still a baby. Just two years later the Biafran Civil War broke out bringing famine with it, forcing her mother to bring the children back to Newcastle, whilst her father stayed on in the Biafran army.^[4]

Onwurah went on to gain a degree in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College London in 1987.^[5] She 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 – Britain, France, US, Nigeria and Denmark while studying for an MBA at Manchester Business School.

Prior to becoming an MP she was Head of Telecoms Technology at OFCOM, with a focus on broadband provision.

Political career

Onwurah was very active in the Anti Apartheid Movement, and spent many years on its National Executive, and that of its successor organisation, ACTSA. She also joined the Advisory Board of the Open University Business School. Onwurah supported Ed Miliband in the 2010 Labour Party leadership election.^[6] Miliband appointed Onwurah as a junior shadow minister for Business, Innovation and Skills on 10 October 2010.

Personal life

Outside of politics Onwurah enjoys music, reading and long walks in the countryside.

References

1. ^ London Gazette: no. 59418. p. 8738. 13 May 2010.
2. ^ "Chi Onwurah". Democracy Live. http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/representatives/profiles/83135.stm. 
3. ^ "Election 2010: Results". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/person/11832/chinyelu-onwurah. Retrieved 7 May 2010. 
4. ^ "Labour Party website". Archived from the original on 2010-11-03. http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www2.labour.org.uk/mp/chinyelu_onwurah/833/. Retrieved 2010-11-03. 
5. ^ "Chinyelu Onwurah". Telegraph. http://ukpolitics.telegraph.co.uk/Newcastle+upon+Tyne+Central/Chinyelu+Onwurah. Retrieved 7 May 2010. 
6. ^ Why I'm supporting Ed Milliband Chi Onwurah, 27 July 2010

External links

• Official website
• Parliamentary Record TheyWorkForYou

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Jim Cousins	Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central 2010–present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Onwurah, Chinyelu
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	12 April 1965
Place of birth	Wallsend
Date of death
Place of death