Taiwo Owatemi
Taiwo Owatemi | |
|---|---|
 Owatemi in 2019 | |
| Member of Parliament for Coventry North West | |
| Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Geoffrey Robinson |
| Majority | 208 (0.4%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1992 (Age 28-29) |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | University of Kent |
| Website | taiwoowatemi |
Taiwo Owatemi (born 1992) is a British Labour Party politician. She was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry North West in the 2019 election.[1]
Early life
Owatemi grew up in Plumstead with close links to an extended family via her aunt and cousins in Coventry. Her father died when she was six due to a shortage of organ donors, an event which she has identified as being formative of her political views. She was brought up alongside her twin and her elder brother by her mother, a nurse.
Owatemi is a Masters graduate from the University of Kent and a qualified pharmacist.[2][3] She worked as a senior oncology pharmacist in a cancer unit in Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust prior to entering Parliament.[4]
Political career
Owatemi was selected for a Parliamentary internship by the Social Mobility Foundation, and gained experience working in the Westminster office of Oliver Letwin.[5] She served in a number of roles in the Young Fabians and published on health policy.[3] She also served as a school governor at a local primary school since 2016.[5][6]
She was selected as Labour's candidate for Coventry North West after incumbent Geoffrey Robinson stood down. Contrary to exit poll predictions, Labour held the seat, albeit with a significantly reduced majority of 0.4%.[7]
Owatemi is one of Coventry's three female MPs, alongside Zarah Sultana and Colleen Fletcher.
She has served as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds since April 2020
In October 2020 Owatemi made a viral speech opposing the governments decision to not extend free school meals over Christmas and Easter holidays which has had over 7 million views on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. [8]
References
- ^ "Coventry North West". BBC.com. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ "Surprise in Coventry North West as members select Taiwo Owatemi". LabourList. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ^ a b "Taiwo Owatemi". neweuropeans.net. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ^ "Taiwo Owatemi: 'Like every pharmacist in the country, I've been frustrated by medicines shortages'". Pharmaceutical Journal. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ a b "About Taiwo". TaiwoOwatemi.com. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ^ "Governors". De Lucy Primary School. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ^ "General Election 2019: Coventry seats retained by Labour as city bucks national trend". Coventry Live. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ^ https://twitter.com/TaiwoOwatemi/status/1319005533626650624.
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External links
- Living people
- UK MPs 2019–
- 21st-century British women politicians
- People from Plumstead
- Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- Alumni of the University of Kent
- Black British politicians
- Members of Parliament for Coventry