Kate Osamor

Ofunne Kate Osamor (/oʊˈsæmɔːr/; born 15 August 1968) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Edmonton and Winchmore Hill, previously Edmonton, since 2015. She was Shadow Secretary of State for International Development from 2016 to 2018. She is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus, and currently serves as the Government's Trade Envoy to East Africa.

Ofunne Kate Osamor was born on 15 August 1968 in North London and grew up in Haringey. She was one of four children; her father died when she was a child and her mother, politician Martha Osamor (née Oburotha), had to work "three, sometimes four jobs".

Osamor was educated at Creighton Comprehensive School in Muswell Hill from 1979 to 1983. She completed an access course at Hackney College from 2003 to 2006, and subsequently read Third World Studies at the University of East London. Osamor was diagnosed with dyslexia at university, to which she attributes some of her difficulties at school.

She worked for The Big Issue newspaper after graduating, but principally worked in the NHS and was active in Unite the Union. Osamor was an executive assistant in a general practitioner (GP) out-of-hours service for 9 years and a GP practice manager for 2 years.

In 2014, Osamor was elected a member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party.

At the 2015 general election, Osamor was elected to Parliament as MP for Edmonton with 61.4% of the vote and a majority of 15,419.

Osamor was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015. She was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Corbyn in September 2015.

On 14 January 2016, Osamor was appointed to the Opposition frontbench as Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities.