1. Chinyelu Susan "Chi" Onwurah is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West since 2024, and previously for Newcastle upon Tyne Central from 2010 to 2024, when the constituency was abolished.
Chi Onwurah was born on 12 April 1965 in Wallsend, then in Northumberland.
Chi Onwurah attended Kenton School in Newcastle and graduated from Imperial College London in 1987 with a degree in electrical engineering.
Chi Onwurah spent many years on its National Executive, and that of its successor organisation, ACTSA: Action for Southern Africa.
Chi Onwurah joined the advisory board of the Open University Business School.
Chi Onwurah was elected as the Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central at the 2010 general election with a majority of 7,466.
Chi Onwurah succeeded the previous Labour MP Jim Cousins, who had decided to step down after 23 years.
Chi Onwurah described Parliament as a "culture shock" but said that compared with her engineering background "parliament is the most diverse working environment I've ever been in, the most gender balanced".
Chi Onwurah supported Ed Miliband in the 2010 Labour Party leadership election.
In February 2014, Chi Onwurah spoke in a parliamentary debate called at her initiative on the topic of gender-specific toy marketing.
Chi Onwurah lent her support to the campaign Let Toys Be Toys.
Chi Onwurah's mother was a member of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, and she had assumed that when given the opportunity, she would vote in favour of voluntary assisted dying.
Chi Onwurah is the only engineer in the post-2015 Parliamentary Labour Party.
We regret that Chi Onwurah feels she was singled out, but this was clearly not the case.
Chi Onwurah noted that the confusion affected two of the ethnic minority, female MPs, and argued that employment law required private sector managers to be considerably more sensitive and responsive in handling comparable situations.
Chi Onwurah stated: "If this had been any of my previous employers in the public and private sectors, Jeremy might well have found himself before an industrial tribunal for constructive dismissal, probably with racial discrimination thrown in".
Chi Onwurah later wrote that "I made no accusation of racism against Jeremy", after claims had been made of her "playing the race card".
Chi Onwurah backed Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour leadership election, but remained a Labour frontbencher.
Chi Onwurah was re-elected at the 2019 general election, and again, Newcastle Upon Tyne Central was the first seat in the United Kingdom to be declared.
In 2018, Chi Onwurah was added to the Computer Weekly "Most Influential Women in UK IT" Hall of Fame alongside Hannah Dee, Sarah Wood and Sherry Coutu.