Chi Onwurah is the Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, having first been elected to Parliament in 2010. She was elected in 2019 with a majority of 12,278.
Newcastle upon Tyne Central is the most ethnically diverse of the Newcastle seats and also contains a large student population. An urban city seat this has long been safe territory for the Labour Party. In the 2019 General Election it was the first constituency to officially declare its result.
Chi Onwurah was appointed as Shadow Minister for Science, Research and Digital in April 2020. She previously served as Shadow Minister for Industrial Strategy under Jeremy Corbyn between 2016 and 2020.
Born in 1965 in Wallsend, Chi Onwurah was educated at Imperial College gaining a degree in Electrical Engineering. She then worked in computer software and information technology and holds an MBA from Manchester Business School. Prior to entering parliament, Chi was Head of Telecoms Technology at Ofcom.
She once described Parliament as a far more gender balanced working environment than her previously experiences in engineering.
Chi supported Owen Smith in his 2016 challenge to Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership. She supported Emily Thornberry in the 2020 Labour leadership election.
For many years, she was on the board of the Anti Apartheid Movement. She is a long standing fan of Newcastle United.
Chi Onwurah is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Internet, Communications, and Technology; Jazz Appreciation; Open Banking and Payments; Scientific; Engineering the Commonwealth; and Space. She is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Africa; Angola; Creative Diversity; Diversity and Inclusion in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
Email: chi.onwurah.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: http://chionwurahmp.com
Twitter: @ChiOnwurah
