Taiwo Owatemi

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Taiwo Owatemi
MP
Official portrait of Taiwo Owatemi MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2019
Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
Assumed office
21 September 2021
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byCharlotte Nichols
Member of Parliament
for Coventry North West
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byGeoffrey Robinson
Majority208 (0.4%)
Personal details
Born (1992-07-22) 22 July 1992 (age 29)
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Kent
Websitetaiwoowatemi.co.uk

Taiwo Owatemi (born 22 July 1992)[1] is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry North West since 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities since 2021.

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, 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 has a Master's from the University of Kent and is a qualified pharmacist.[2][3] She worked as a senior oncology pharmacist at a cancer unit in Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust before she entered 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 Conservative MP Oliver Letwin.[5] She served in a number of roles in the Young Fabians and published on health policy.[3] She was also a governor at a local primary school from 2016.[5][6]

She was selected as Labour's candidate for Coventry North West at the 2019 general election after the incumbent Labour MP, Geoffrey Robinson, announced his intention to stand down. Owatemi narrowly held the seat for Labour with a majority of 208 votes.[7][8] She is one of three female MPs elected from Coventry in 2019, alongside Zarah Sultana and Colleen Fletcher.

In the 2020 Labour Party leadership election Owatemi nominated Lisa Nandy.

Owatemi served as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Shadow Home Secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds, from April 2020 to September 2021.[9] She was appointed as Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities in September 2021.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  2. ^ "Surprise in Coventry North West as members select Taiwo Owatemi". LabourList. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Taiwo Owatemi". neweuropeans.net. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Taiwo Owatemi: 'Like every pharmacist in the country, I've been frustrated by medicines shortages'". Pharmaceutical Journal. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b "About Taiwo". TaiwoOwatemi.com. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Governors". De Lucy Primary School. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Coventry North West". BBC.com. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  8. ^ "General Election 2019: Coventry seats retained by Labour as city bucks national trend". Coventry Live. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  9. ^ "List of PPS of the Labour Party". Labour List. 14 May 2020.
  10. ^ Rodgers, Sienna. "Anneliese Dodds replaces Marsha de Cordova in women and equalities role". LabourList. Retrieved 21 September 2021.

External links[]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Coventry North West
2019 – present 		Incumbent
Retrieved from ""