22 Facts About Florence Eshalomi

Florence Dauta Eshalomi is a British Labour and Co-operative politician serving as the Member of Parliament representing Vauxhall since 2019.

Florence Eshalomi previously served as the Member of the London Assembly for Lambeth and Southwark from 2016 to 2021, and represented Brixton Hill on the Lambeth London Borough Council from 2006 to 2018.

Florence Eshalomi supported her mother, who suffered from sickle cell anaemia and kidney failure, as her carer.

Florence Eshalomi attended local schools in Lambeth including Durand Primary and St Helen's RC Primary school and Bishop Thomas Grant Secondary School.

Florence Eshalomi completed her A-Levels at St Francis Xavier Sixth Form College in Clapham South.

Florence Eshalomi benefited from the EU Funded 'Erasmus Student Exchange' and had the opportunity to study at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Florence Eshalomi started her working life as a 16-year-old at Sainsbury's supermarket, Clapham High Street.

Florence Eshalomi has worked in a variety of campaigning and public affairs roles including in local government as a policy officer, as a regional organiser for the Labour Party during the 2005 general election and as the Public Affairs Manager for the UK's leading race equality think tank, the Runnymede Trust.

Florence Eshalomi served as a local councillor from Brixton Hill on Lambeth London Borough Council.

Florence Eshalomi represented the ward along with future Labour MP Steve Reed.

Florence Eshalomi has previously served as a member of the Progress Strategy Board.

Florence Eshalomi was elected to the London Assembly on 5 May 2016 with a majority of 62,243 over the Conservative Party candidate Robert Flint.

Florence Eshalomi was lead spokesperson for the London Assembly Labour Group on Transport issues, and current Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee.

Florence Eshalomi was selected as Labour candidate for the Vauxhall parliamentary constituency on 27 October 2019, after Kate Hoey, a long-standing MP of 30 years, had announced she would not stand again as Labour's candidate in the constituency.

Florence Eshalomi won the seat with a slightly reduced majority of 19,612 votes.

Florence Eshalomi made her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 17 January 2020.

Florence Eshalomi said that "I never imagined that almost five years to the day, as I was literally pacing up and down the maternity ward, looking over the river, trying to coerce my daughter to come out, I would now be sat in this Parliament fighting for funding for our hard-working doctors and nurses" in reference to St Thomas' Hospital in her Vauxhall constituency.

On 14 April 2020, Florence Eshalomi was promoted to the opposition front bench as a whip.

Florence Eshalomi said of the misidentifications that "The frequency is worrying and lends itself to a lazy racist view that all black people look the same".

Florence Eshalomi was wrongly identified as Taiwo Owatemi by BBC Parliament and a fellow MP ran up to her thinking she was Kate Osamor.

On 30 December 2020, Florence Eshalomi abstained on the Future Trade Agreement between the UK and the EU, resulting in her resignation as an opposition whip.

In May 2021, Florence Eshalomi returned to the Labour front bench as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Angela Rayner, the Shadow First Secretary of State and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.