Taiwo Owatemi

Taiwo Owatemi (born 22 July 1992)[1] is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry North West since 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she was Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities from September 2021 to September 2022.

Taiwo Owatemi
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
In office
21 September 2021 – 7 September 2022
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byCharlotte Nichols
Succeeded byYasmin Qureshi
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
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Kent
Websitetaiwoowatemi.co.uk

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. She was brought up with her twin and her elder brother by her mother, a nurse.

Owatemi has a Master's degree from the University of Kent and is qualified as a pharmacist.[2][3] She worked as a 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 writing on health policy.[3] She was a governor of 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, the others being 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] She resigned from this position on 7 September 2022.[11]

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. "Taiwo Owatemi". neweuropeans.net. 21 June 2016. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. 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. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  5. "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.
  11. @TaiwoOwatemi (7 September 2022). "It has been a privilege to serve in my frontbench role as Whip and Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities for the past year under @Keir_Starmer's leadership. It is therefore with regret that I have decided to step back and focus on my work in Coventry North West" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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