Fiona Onasanya

Fiona Onasanya
MP
Member of Parliament
for Peterborough
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded by Stewart Jackson
Majority 607 (1.3%)
Personal details
Born Fiona Oluyinka Onasanya
August 1983 (age 35)
Cambridge
Political party Labour
Alma mater University of Hertfordshire
The College of Law
Profession Solicitor
Website fionaonasanya.co.uk

Fiona Oluyinka Onasanya (born August 1983) is a British solicitor and Labour Party politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Peterborough[1] in 2017.[2]

Early life and career

Of Nigerian ancestry,[3] Onasanya was born in Cambridge. Her parents, Frank and Paulina Onasanya,[4][5] separated when she was three and she lived with her mother and younger brother.[6] Onasanya was educated at Netherhall School,[7] studied law at the University of Hertfordshire[7][8] and then attended the University of Law.[7] Onasanya was admitted as a solicitor in November 2015.[8] She worked as a solicitor at Nockolds, Eversheds, Howes Percival and DC Law.[9] She specialised in Commercial Property law. "(Law Society records)".

Onasanya was elected as a Labour Cambridgeshire County Councillor for King's Hedges in Cambridge in 2013 and deputy leader of the Labour group on the council.[10] She was also the local party's spokeswoman for children and young people.[11] In 2017 she unsuccessfully sought the nomination to be Labour's candidate for Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.[7]

Onasanya moved to Peterborough in 2014.[6]

Parliamentary career

In the 2017 general election, Onasanya was selected by the Labour Party to stand in the constituency of Peterborough, which had been held since 2005 by Stewart Jackson, a Conservative. Onasanya defeated Jackson with a majority of 607 votes and a 2.7% swing to Labour.[2]

Onasanya was appointed as a Labour whip and as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith.[12][13] She achieved some prominence when she quoted lyrics from Man's Not Hot, a viral song, during a Budget debate in November 2017.[14][15] She supported remain in the United Kingdom European Union independence referendum.

In July 2018, Onasanya was charged by Cambridgeshire Police with perverting the course of justice in relation to two speeding incidents which occurred in 2017.[16] The first charge alleges that she was driving the vehicle during a speeding incident on 24 July 2017 but that, with her brother Festus Onasanya, claimed that someone else was driving. The second charge concerns a speeding incident on 23 August 2017 when Festus is alleged to have been the one driving.[17] Her brother is charged with three counts, two relating to the same incidents as his sister and a third relating to an incident on 17 June 2017.[18][19] She appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 12 July 2018.[12][17][20]

Onasanya said on 27 July 2018 that she "will be robustly defending" herself and that she "strongly refutes any suggestions that I have broken the law".[19] On 13 August 2018 at the Old Bailey, Onasanya pleaded not guilty to the one charge against her, relating to an alleged offence in Cambridgeshire in July 2017. Her trial date was set for 12 November 2018.[21]

Personal life

Onasanya has said that she wishes to be Britain's first black female prime minister.[22] She is a Christian and attends iCAN community church in East London.[18][23]

Onasanya has a younger brother, Festus, who is a singer.[11]

She is a patron of Women Worldwide Advocating Freedom and Equality[24] and a Trustee of East Hertfordshire YMCA.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "Fiona Onasanya MP". UK Parliament.
  2. 1 2 "Peterborough parliamentary constituency - Election 2017". BBC News. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  3. ↑ Asadu, Chinedu (9 June 2017). "Onwurah, Osamor, Onasanya… meet the seven British Nigerians elected into UK parliament". The Cable. Nigerias. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Life-changing election victory for Peterborough's new MP".
  5. ↑ "PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News". www.pressreader.com.
  6. 1 2 Lamy, Joel (15 July 2017). "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Life-changing election victory for Peterborough's new MP". Peterborough Telegraph. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Carr, Tim; Dale, Iain; Waller, Robert (7 September 2017). "The Politicos Guide to the New House of Commons 2017". Biteback Publishing – via Google Books.
  8. 1 2 Hyde, John (26 July 2018). "Solicitor MP charged with perverting course of justice". Law Society Gazette. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  9. ↑ Onasanya, Fiona. ukwhoswho.com. Who's Who. 2018 (February 2018 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  10. ↑ Lamy, Joel (2 May 2017). "Labour reveals Peterborough election candidate to take on Stewart Jackson". Peterborough Telegraph. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  11. 1 2 Walker, Peter (25 July 2018). "Labour MP charged with perverting the course of justice". the Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  12. 1 2 Fisher, Paul (25 July 2018). "Peterborough Labour MP Fiona Onasanya charged with perverting the course of justice". Peterborough Telegraph. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  13. ↑ "PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News". www.pressreader.com.
  14. ↑ Simpson, Fiona (25 July 2018). "Labour MP charged with perverting the course of justice". Evening Standard. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  15. ↑ "MP quotes grime star Big Shaq in Commons". BBC News. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  16. ↑ "MP Fiona Onasanya accused of lying about speeding". BBC News. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  17. 1 2 Fisher, Paul (25 July 2018). "Everything we know so far about the court case against Peterborough Labour MP Fiona Onasanya". Peterborough Telegraph. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  18. 1 2 Heffer, Greg (25 July 2018). "Labour MP Fiona Onasanya charged after 'lying about speeding'". Sky News. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  19. 1 2 "MP denies she lied about speeding". 27 July 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  20. ↑ "Labour MP in court charged with perverting the course of justice". BT. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  21. ↑ Elgot, Jessica (2018-08-13). "Labour MP pleads not guilty to perverting course of justice". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
  22. ↑ https://guardian.ng/saturday-magazine/fiona-onasanya-dreaming-to-become-britains-first-black-female-prime-minister/
  23. 1 2 Carr, Tim; Dale, Iain; Waller, Robert (7 September 2017). "The Politicos Guide to the New House of Commons 2017". Biteback Publishing – via Google Books.
  24. ↑ "Fiona Onasanya MP - Women's History Network". womenshistorynetwork.org.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Stewart Jackson		 Member of Parliament for Peterborough
2017–present		 Incumbent
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