Four Ghanaians, made up of two females and two males, who won their seats on the tickets of the Labour and the Conservative parties, respectfully, in the December 12 elections, have been elected to the United Kingdom (UK) House of Commons.
Abena Oppong-Asare and Bell Ribeiro-Addy won their seats for the Labour Party, while Kwasi Kwarteng and Adam Afriyie won for the Conservative Party.
While Abena Oppong-Asare won the Erith and Thamesmead Constituency with 48 per cent of the votes and a majority of 3,758, Bell Ribeiro-Addy won the seat to represent the Streatham Constituency after securing 54.8 per cent with 30,976 votes.
Their male counterparts Adam Afriyie also retained the Windsor seat with 31,501 votes and Kwasi Kwarteng also kept his Spelthorne seat with 18,000 votes.
The two newly elected female MPs who took to Twitter to announce their victory also used the opportunity to thank family and friends for their support in cash and kind.
The male MPs elect of Ghanaian origin won for the Conservative on seats that have been known to be mainly occupied by representatives from the Labour Party, but there was a drop in the percentage of votes for the party.
Abena Oppong-Asare was assured of victory after long-serving MP, Teresa Pearce, stepped down prior to the election.
With a background in Politics and International Relations from the University of Kent, she works as a researcher for the London Assembly Labour Group focusing on equalities.
Bell is the former Chief of Staff and Senior Political Advisor to the Rt Hon. Diane Abbott MP, the first Black woman elected to the UK Parliament.
She holds a BSc in Biomedical Sciences & Philosophy of Science from the University of Bradford and a Master’s degree in Medical Law and Ethics from Queen Mary’s, University of London.
Bell is also an organiser for the Society of Black Lawyers, a Lambeth school governor and a member of Amnesty UK’s Campaigns Impact sub-committee.
Her recent election makes her the first Black woman elected to the seat and one of two women of Ghanaian heritage elected to the UK Parliament.
The four are expected to take their oath of office on December 17, 2019, when the House meets to start the new Parliament.
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