{"id":552,"date":"2014-08-21T12:30:03","date_gmt":"2014-08-21T12:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=552"},"modified":"2014-08-21T12:30:03","modified_gmt":"2014-08-21T12:30:03","slug":"nigerian-who-may-become-first-black-british-pm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=552","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian who may become first black British PM"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cameron-Chuka-360x182\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On May 7, 2015, a Nigerian, Chuka Umunna, could make history by becoming the first black Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Born in London in 1978, Chuka was bred in the UK. His late father, Bennett, hailed from Anambra State while his Irish mother, Patricia, is a solicitor.<\/p>\n

Co-incidentally, Chuka shares startling similarities with the United States President, Barack Obama, who is the first black President of the world\u2019s most powerful nation.<\/p>\n

For instance, Chuka is of mixed race, being the child of a Nigerian father and an Irish mother while Obama is also of mixed race, being the offspring of a white American woman and a Kenyan father. Also Chuka\u2019s father, Bennett, was killed in a mysterious car accident in Nigeria in 1992 while Obama\u2019s father was killed in a car accident in Kenya in 1982.<\/p>\n

If history repeats itself as it is being predicted by British political observers, Chuka, who is also a six-foot tall lawyer like Obama, could become the first black Prime Minister in the UK.<\/p>\n

Chuka\u2019s life story is perhaps a better guide to his future political direction. It is the story of a rise from the streets of South London (scene of some of Britain\u2019s worse race riots in the 1980s) to the parliament. But it is not the story that some might expect.<\/p>\n

His father, Bennett, was a Nigerian labourer, who arrived in Britain in the sixties with one suitcase and no money. Having borrowed the fare from Liverpool to London, he worked in a carwash, became a successful businessman and died in a car crash when his son was 13.<\/p>\n

Bennett began an import-export business trading with Nigeria and was starting to make a decent living when he met Patricia Milmo, a solicitor, at a London party. She happened to be the daughter of Sir Helenus Milmo, a Cambridge-educated High Court judge and a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Nazi trials. They later got married, a rare combination during a time of high social inequality and racism.<\/p>\n

Chuka believed his father was killed because he refused to indulge in corrupt practices when he was running for the governorship of Anambra State during the administration of former military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.).<\/p>\n

Bennett died after his car ran into a lorry carrying logs along the Onitsha-Owerri highway in Anambra. Bennett had been splitting his time between London and Nigeria \u2013 where he unsuccessfully ran for the governorship of Anambra State and had taken a stand against bribery.<\/p>\n

At a point Bennett was also the owner of the Rangers International Football Club of Enugu, the darling of the Igbo people.<\/p>\n

When quizzed about his father on Sky News, he had this to say: \u201cThere was a lot of speculation in Nigeria at the time around his death. He was a national political figure standing on an anti-corruption ticket and refused to bribe anybody.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t really talk about it because it is not going to bring him back but I think he would be bowled over that his son is now a politician just like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chuka, an English and French Law graduate from the University of Manchester, who also holds a Master\u2019s degree from Nottingham Law School, says his interest in politics was shaped by seeing extreme poverty while visiting his father\u2019s relatives in Nigeria and the social divide in his own Streatham constituency in the UK. He says that he is \u201cnot super-religious\u201d but that his soft-left values are \u201crooted in my Christianity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old Labour Party Member of Parliament, however, has two hurdles to cross if he is to make history in the UK. This is because in the UK, for one to become the Prime Minister, the person must first be a Member of Parliament, the person\u2019s party must win majority of seats out of the 560 seats in the House of Commons during the parliamentary elections and the person must be the leader of his party.<\/p>\n

Presently, Chuka is the Member of Parliament for Streatham, a position he has held since 2010 but must re-contest in 2015 and win to retain the seat.<\/p>\n

He is also the Shadow Business Secretary, a position held by a member of Her Majesty\u2019s Loyal Opposition. The duty of the office holder is to scrutinise the actions of the government\u2019s Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and develop alternative policies. The office holder is a member of the Shadow Cabinet.<\/p>\n

According to the UK Telegraph, Chuka is rumoured to have the strong support of a former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who was also a Labour Party leader.<\/p>\n

According to the British newspaper, when asked if he was Blair\u2019s anointed candidate, Chuka said, \u201cI really don\u2019t know anything about that.\u201d However, when he was pressed further whether he aspired to head his party, he said, \u201cI don\u2019t entertain any discussion beyond winning the election next year. That would be completely hypocritical of me. To start thinking about hypothetical scenarios would be totally indulgent. All my energy is focused on winning the election, and so should everyone\u2019s. It will be very close.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chuka is one of the youngest MPs in the UK having been introduced into British politics by the current Labour Party leader, Ed Miliband, while he was in his 20s.<\/p>\n

It was Milband that helped him become an MP and later made him his Parliamentary Private Secretary before he was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet in October 2011. He is tipped to become Miliband\u2019s successor and could become the Prime Minister should the Labour Party win next year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

Chuka, however, claims to hate the comparison of him and Obama which he terms the \u201cconstruct of lazy journalists.\u201d He sharply divides opinion in British politics. Good-looking, articulate, new-media-savvy and a good orator.<\/p>\n

According to FT Magazine, he is not universally popular among his own colleagues, who see more style than substance. \u201cHe just has a knack of alienating people,\u201d said one experienced Labour MP. \u201cHe is probably the most natural communicator I\u2019ve seen since Tony Blair. The problem is that each week he has fewer supporters than he did at the start of the week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even potential allies recount stories of apparent slights or snubs. A senior party figure says, \u201cChuka has put people\u2019s backs up. They feel he is inaccessible.\u201d Another long-serving MP adds, \u201cThe idea of learning the trade first is only for mere mortals, not for him.\u201d Peter Mandelson, the former Labour business secretary who played a key role in Blair\u2019s rise through to the top, thinks the explanation for this is quite simple, \u201cEnvy plays a big part in politics,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Like Blair, Chuka sometimes connects better with those beyond his own circle. John Cridland, head of the CBI employers\u2019 group, calls him \u201ca guy with whom we can do business.\u201d Andrew Tyrie, Tory Chair of the Commons Treasury Committee, say: \u201cHe\u2019s extremely talented and charming.\u201d Andrew Adonis, a former Labour minister, sums up his cross-party appeal: \u201cThe best politicians are those who look outwards not inwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, allies of the current British PM, David Cameron, scoffed at the idea that Chuka might represent a threat to Cameron\u2019s second term bid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t think of any issue where he\u2019s put us under pressure,\u201d says one close friend of the prime minister. \u201cHe\u2019s pretty average \u2013 he\u2019s a slick corporate lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, among his fellow party members, Chuka\u2019s lack of political definition is another source of irritation as some claim they struggle to work out what he really believes in. But Chuka says people should show a bit more patience. \u201cIt would be rather unhealthy if after just three years in parliament I was setting out some blueprint for my country,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat do people expect?\u201d<\/p>\n

But some see him as the potential leader of a mainstream 21st-Century Labour party with the kind of crossover appeal of Blair\u2019s New Labour. Despite initial reservations that Chuka might be a bit too left-wing, Blair has started seeing him regularly. \u201cChuka strikes Tony as very smart,\u201d says one close ally of the former PM. \u201cBusiness is a particularly important brief in tough economic times and Chuka seems to be rising to the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

As if Blair\u2019s blessing was not enough, Chuka recalls the \u201chonour\u201d of spending \u201ca small bit of private time with former US President, Bill Clinton, who he describes as one of his political heroes. \u201cI think he defies the left-right description,\u201d Mandelson says in approbation. \u201cHe\u2019s part of a generation that transcends those labels.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has also recently been to Europe to meet his friend, the French PM, Manuel Valls.<\/p>\n

According to statistics, almost 15 per cent of people in Britain describe themselves as \u201cnon-white\u201d but the country has never had a party leader from an ethnic minority background. Nobody has ever come close. Chuka confesses that until his late teens he had not even thought about a career in politics because there was \u201cnobody who looked like me\u201d running the country.<\/p>\n

Chuka has been vocal in the call for a reduction in government spending as well as issues on immigration. \u201cThey [the French] have something like 40 ministers compared to our 80,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

On the EU itself, he has called for reform, saying not long ago that free movement of workers was not intended to mean free movement of jobseekers. \u201cAs one of the most pro-European shadow ministers, I don\u2019t think you can ignore the impact that free movement has had on some of our communities,\u201d he says, adding that it has changed because there are \u201cmany more EU members.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds, \u201cThere\u2019s a number of things we need to look at. Those who tend to raise the issue of immigration with me are my African and Asian constituents. They want confidence there are proper controls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want to see people integrate, which is why we shouldn\u2019t be spending all this money translating documents and [instead] directing resources to ensure people learn English. And you do need to look at free movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next year\u2019s election may not be based on ethnicity but it obviously will be hard not to notice that a British-Nigerian could become the leader of one of the world\u2019s wealthiest countries.<\/p>\n

On the issue of ethnicity, Chuka has this to say, \u201cA lot of people presume \u2013 because of my ethnicity \u2013 that I come from a particular social background. I am very quick to disabuse people of any sense that I\u2019ve wanted and struggled in the way that, say, my father did. I come from a fairly middle-class background. People try and pigeonhole you in a box and I find that frustrating sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Chuka is hard to pigeonhole, that may be linked to his own pedigree. It seems likely, if not certain, that Chuka, whose name means God is the greatest, is destined to become a larger presence in his party and thus a bigger potential target despite being a person whose father came to the UK from Nigeria without a dime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On May 7, 2015, a Nigerian, Chuka Umunna, could make history by becoming the first black Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Born in London in 1978, Chuka was bred in the UK. His late father, Bennett, hailed from Anambra State while his Irish mother, Patricia, is a solicitor. Co-incidentally, Chuka shares startling similarities with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Cameron-Chuka-360x182.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-8U","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=552"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":554,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552\/revisions\/554"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}