Abena Oppong-Asare
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Shadow Minister for Women's Health and Mental Health
Assumed office
5 September 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byRosena Allin-Khan
Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
In office
16 October 2020 – 5 September 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byWes Streeting
Succeeded byTanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
Member of Parliament
for Erith and Thamesmead
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byTeresa Pearce
Majority3,758 (9.1%)
Personal details
Born
Abena Oppong-Asare[1]

(1983-02-08) 8 February 1983
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Kent (BA, MA)
OccupationPolitician
WebsiteOfficial website

Abena Oppong-Asare (born 8 February 1983)[1] is a British Labour Party politician. She was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Erith and Thamesmead in the 2019 general election.[2] She and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, both elected in the 2019 general election, are the first female British Ghanaian MPs.[3][4]

She was appointed to the Official Opposition frontbench in 2020, becoming Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, and later Shadow Minister for Women's Health and Mental Health.[5]

Early life

Oppong-Asare is of Ghanaian descent[6] and studied Politics with International Relations at the University of Kent, where she also attained a master's degree in International Law with International Relations.

Political career

She is the chair of Labour Women's Network. From 2014 to 2018, she was a Labour Party Councillor for Erith ward on Bexley Council, serving as Deputy Leader of the opposition Labour Group from 2014 to 2016 and acted as the spokesperson on education.[7] She has also previously served as a parliamentary assistant and constituency liaison officer, and has advised the shadow minister for Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls.[8] Prior to her election, Oppong-Asare worked at the Greater London Authority, supporting GLA members to effectively represent the people of London. During this time, she led community engagement following the Grenfell Tower fire.

In 2019, she ran to be the Labour prospective parliamentary candidate in Erith and Thamesmead when the incumbent MP Teresa Pearce announced she would stand down at the next election.

In 2020, she released a report, Leaving Nobody Behind in Erith and Thamesmead, examining the impact of the pandemic on key groups in her constituency, including disabled people, people from an ethnic minority background, women, young people and those from a lower socio-economic background. The report was widely praised upon publication and picked up by local and national media outlets.

On 14 January 2020 she was announced as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the new Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Luke Pollard.[9]

On 16 April 2020, Oppong-Asare was announced as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the newly appointed Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Anneliese Dodds.[10]

On 16 October 2020, Oppong-Asare was promoted to Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, replacing Wes Streeting, who was moved to the position of Shadow Minister for Schools following resignations the previous day relating to the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill.[11]

In November 2021, the political monitoring organisation Vuelio identified Oppong-Asare as amongst the top six MPs who tabled the most Parliamentary Questions that session and June 2021, PR firm Edelman included her in their list of "ones to watch" from the 2019 intake.[12]

In 2022, Oppong-Asare was included in the Women in Westminster 100 list to mark International Women's Day.[13]

Each year, Oppong-Asare holds a political and campaigning Summer School for local young people in which she invites high-profile speakers to deliver training and workshops designed at encouraging political engagement from those often under-represented.[14]

In July 2023, The Independent revealed that Oppong-Asare had claimed a £55 parking fine on her MP expenses.[15]

In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle she was appointed Shadow Minister for Women's Health and Mental Health.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 Brunskill, Ian (2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. Glasgow. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ↑ Somerville, Ewan (13 December 2019). "Erith & Thamesmead constituency results 2019: Labour's Abena Oppong-Asare holds seat". Evening Standard. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  3. ↑ "Ghanaian-British Politician, Abena Oppong-Asare, wins Erith and Thamesmead seat in 2019 UK elections". www.pulse.ng. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  4. ↑ "UK elections: Two Ghanaian women win seats for Labour". The Ghana Report. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  5. ↑ "Ghanaian-British MP promoted to role of Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury". www.ghanaweb.com. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  6. ↑ "Ghanaian-British Politician, Abena Oppong-Asare, wins Erith and Thamesmead seat in 2019 UK elections". www.pulse.ng. 13 December 2019.
  7. ↑ Chappell, Elliot (2 November 2019). "Abena Oppong-Asare picked to replace Teresa Pearce". LabourList. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  8. ↑ PoliticsHome.com (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". PoliticsHome.com. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  9. ↑ Pollard, Luke [@LukePollard] (14 January 2020). "Delighted to announce the new Shadow DEFRA Team: Shadow Fisheries @RuthNewportWest Shadow Farming @DanielZeichner and shared with Shadow BEIS Shadow Waste & Recycling @alanwhiteheadmp. Whip @ThangamMP and Lords Minister @WhitchurchGirl with new MP @abenaopp as my PPS" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ↑ Dodds, Anneliese [@AnnelieseDodds] (16 April 2020). "Great to have had our first team meeting this morning with the full complement of the Shadow Treasury Team! Am so pleased that @abenaopp, @FloEshalomi, Denis Tunnicliffe and @SpenceLivermore have also joined us" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ↑ Rodgers, Sienna (16 October 2020). "Wes Streeting, James Murray, Abena Oppong-Asare given new frontbench roles". LabourList. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  12. ↑ In Focus: Autumn MP activity vuelio.com November 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2023
  13. ↑ "The Women in Westminster: The 100: 2022 list is revealed". 3 March 2022.
  14. ↑ Oppong-Asare, Abena (6 August 2020). "Back to school: student workshops to prepare children for September return". News Shopper.
  15. ↑ "Caught out (again): MP claims parking fine on expenses". The Independent. 29 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  16. ↑ Belger, Tom (5 September 2023). "Labour reshuffle: Starmer unveils six new shadow ministers of state". LabourList. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
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