Chi Onwurah

Chi Onwurah was born in Wallsend, Northumbria, Onwurah’s family soon moved to Nigeria, where her father was from. After the outbreak of the Biafra War, her mother brought the children back to the UK. Onwurah studied Electrical Engineering at Imperial College London and enjoyed a long career as an electrical engineer in software and hardware development, marketing and strategy eventually becoming head of telecoms technology at Ofcom. In 2010, Onwurah was elected as the Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, holding the seat for the party with a majority of 7,466. Following her election she joined the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and in October became shadow business minister. In 2013, she became a shadow Cabinet Office minister and, under Jeremy Corbyn, Onwurah served concurrently as shadow business minister and shadow culture minister. In 2016, Onwurah backed Owen Smith in his unsuccessful bid to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader but stayed on the frontbench. In 2016, Onwurah became shadow minister for industrial strategy, science and innovation until 2020, when she was appointed shadow minister for science, research and digital.