The subject of this article is standing for re-election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 4 July, and will not be an incumbent MP once Parliament is dissolved on 30 May. Some parts of this article may be out of date during that period. |
Abena Oppong-Asare | |
---|---|
Shadow Minister for Women's Health and Mental Health | |
Assumed office 5 September 2023 | |
Leader | Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Rosena Allin-Khan |
Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury | |
In office 16 October 2020 –5 September 2023 | |
Leader | Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Wes Streeting |
Succeeded by | Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi |
Member of Parliament for Erith and Thamesmead | |
Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
Preceded by | Teresa Pearce |
Majority | 3,758 (9.1%) |
Personal details | |
Born | Abena Oppong-Asare [1] 8 February 1983 |
Political party | Labour |
Alma mater | University of Kent (BA,MA) |
Occupation | Politician |
Website | Official 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]
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.
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 three newly-elected MPs who tabled the most Parliamentary Questions that session. [12] In June 2021,PR firm Edelman included her in their list of "ones to watch" from the 2019 intake[ citation needed ].
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]
Oppong-Asare is a member of Labour Friends of Israel. [17]
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Belvedere is a town in south east London,England,within the London Borough of Bexley. It lies close to the River Thames,with Erith to the east,Bexleyheath to the south,and Abbey Wood and Thamesmead to the west. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965,Belvedere was in the administrative county of Kent.
Erith and Thamesmead is a constituency created in 1997 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Abena Oppong-Asare of the Labour Party.
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Teresa Pearce is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Erith and Thamesmead from 2010 to 2019,who was appointed as a Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning in September 2015. In the reshuffle of October 2016,Pearce was appointed as acting Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government,standing down after the 2017 general election to concentrate on her constituency.
Anneliese Jane Dodds is a British Labour and Co-operative politician and public policy analyst serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities,and Chair of the Labour Party. She was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from April 2020 to May 2021,the first woman to hold the position. She has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford East since 2017 and was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 2014 to 2017.
Abena Osei-Asare is a Chartered Accountant,Ghanaian politician and currently a Member of Parliament for Atiwa East in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
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The frontbench of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom consists of the Shadow Cabinet and other shadow ministers of the political party currently serving as the Official Opposition. From 2015 to 2020,Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition was the Labour Party,and the Leader of the Opposition was Jeremy Corbyn.
The Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a member of the Official Opposition frontbench in the United Kingdom. The officeholder shadows the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. The current officeholder is Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi shadowing James Cartlidge on the Treasury bench.
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The frontbench of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom consists of the Shadow Cabinet and other official shadow ministers of the political party currently serving as the Official Opposition. The Opposition front bench provide Parliamentary opposition to the British Government front bench,and is currently the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer since April 2020.
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