27 Facts About Kate Osamor

Kate Osamor was Shadow Secretary of State for International Development from 2016 to 2018.

Kate Osamor is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus.

Kate Osamor was one of four children; her father died when she was a child and her mother, politician Martha Osamor, had to work "three, sometimes four jobs".

Kate Osamor completed an access course at Hackney College from 2003 to 2006, and subsequently read Third World Studies at the University of East London.

Kate Osamor was diagnosed with dyslexia at university, to which she attributes some of her difficulties at school.

Kate Osamor worked for The Big Issue newspaper after graduating, but principally worked in the NHS and was active in Unite the Union.

Kate Osamor was an executive assistant in a general practitioner out of hours service for 9 years and a GP practice manager for 2 years.

In 2014, Kate Osamor was elected a member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party.

Kate Osamor was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015.

Kate Osamor was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Corbyn in September 2015.

On 14 January 2016, Kate Osamor was appointed to the Opposition frontbench as Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities.

Also in January 2016, Kate Osamor was accused of hypocrisy for advertising an unpaid internship which paid expenses only.

Kate Osamor subsequently withdrew the advert, claiming it had been a "misunderstanding".

On 27 June 2016, after the resignations of numerous members of Labour's ministerial team due to disquiet over the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, Kate Osamor was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.

Kate Osamor has served as the chair for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Nigeria since 2015.

In October 2018, it was revealed that Kate Osamor continued to employ her son, Ishmael, in her Parliamentary office despite his drug-related convictions.

Kate Osamor faced further criticism when it was revealed that she used parliamentary stationery and referenced her shadow cabinet position in writing to the judge.

Kate Osamor was first referred to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in November 2018, by a Conservative MP, and the investigation was expanded following the incident with the journalist.

Kate Osamor denied any wrongdoing, and called the initial referral "politically motivated".

Kate Osamor resigned from the Shadow Cabinet on 1 December 2018, stating she needed "to concentrate on supporting my family through the difficult time we have been experiencing".

Kate Osamor was ordered to produce a written apology for her actions.

Kate Osamor accepted that she broke the rules and apologised to the Commissioner, although she later commented that she was "the target of a witch-hunt, and that race and class were factors".

On 28 January 2024, Kate Osamor had the Labour Party parliamentary whip withdrawn pending an investigation into comments she made about Holocaust Memorial Day in her weekly newsletter.

Kate Osamor wrote that there was an "international duty" to remember the victims of the Holocaust and that "more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and now Gaza" should be remembered.

Kate Osamor resigned from his position at Haringey Council after his criminal conviction in 2018.

Kate Osamor's mother, Martha, is a Labour activist and politician who served as a Councillor and Deputy Leader of Haringey Council.

Kate Osamor was appointed to the House of Lords in 2018, on the recommendation of Jeremy Corbyn.