Meet Nigerian Born Chuka Umunna Who May Become The First UK Black Prime Minister (Photos)

His name is Chuka Umunna. His father is Nigerian. His mother is Briton. This gives him the right to claim both countries. Umunna, who is a key player in the Labour Party, is called Britain’s Obama and is quoted to have said the first black British Prime Minister may be in the making.

His official title is Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.  He holds this position in a shadow government set up by Britain’s opposition party, the Labour Party (LP) headed by Ed Miliband. Chuka Umunna, who has a Nigerian father and a British mother, is regarded as Miliband’s  rising star.

His rising status has also made him  face a revolt from jealous Labour MPs who have accused him of running a ‘presidential-style’ Commons office.

Leaked documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday reveal that Shadow Business Secretary Mr Umunna has 11 people working for him – more  than twice what many fellow Labour frontbenchers say they have.

 Chuka Umunna with his sister Chinwe and mother Patricia

His team, believed to be paid about £200,000 in total, includes no fewer than three ‘policy advisers’, a ‘personal assistant’ and a spin doctor.

The chain of command in what Labour MPs are referring to as ‘the court of King Chuka’ is set out in an elaborate ‘organogram’ with stylish Mr Umunna, 33, at the head.

The former City lawyer, promoted to the Shadow Cabinet last month, has had a meteoric rise in the Labour Party since becoming an MP 18 months ago.

He has been dubbed the ‘British Obama’ because of his good looks,  talent and half-African heritage, an image he did little to play down, saying: ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if we were to see a black Prime Minister in my lifetime.’



The similarities between this young man and the president of the United States are striking. Each of them was born to parents of different races – a Black African father, and a Caucasian mother; each of them has an undergraduate degree in Law – Umunna has a Law degree from Manchester University; and each of them practiced Law for a while before becoming politicians. Not to forget – both of them are good-looking, charming, and charismatic.

As similar as Umunna’s history is to President Obama’s, it is an association he would rather do without. A British newspaper described him as “Barack Obama for Britian” while opinions are rife that he may indeed end up becoming the UK’s Obama.

Umunna’s background is quite a story. His father was an Igbo trader from Awka, in Anambra State, and his mother, an English-Irish woman, a daughter of a High Court judge.

 He once said that his father arrived in the UK after a long journey on a boat from Nigeria in the 1960s. Without a suitcase nor any funds, a stranger paid his train fare to London where he was to meet up and stay with friends.



However, his life was marred by tragedy and some indiscretions in his teenage years. His father died when he was only 13 years old and he admitted to using marijuana in his teens.

 His father died in a mysterious car crash in Nigeria after losing an election in his home state, Anambra.

Before he died, He performed a number of menial jobs, including cleaning cars, before building up his business. He became a director of Crystal Palace in the late Eighties after investing £50,000 in the club.

He married Patricia Milmo, a solicitor, in 1976, and the couple  had two children – Chuka and his sister Chinwe, 31, who is also known as Chi Chi.

There were speculations as to whether his death was a murder but Umunna has declined commenting on it.

In a recent interview, he said: ‘There was a lot of speculation in Nigeria. He was a well-known  figure. I don’t really want to go  into it, but things in Nigeria don’t operate like here.

‘It’s not like you’re going to get an official post mortem or a proper police investigation.’

Close friend of his late dad  Ron Noades, who was chairman of Crystal Palace at the time,about his belief that the car crash 20 years ago was no accident spoke about his friends death and this is what he said: 

‘We always thought he was killed by someone, because he did things on the night of his death that he never did in Nigeria,’ he said.

‘He was travelling at night and, secondly, he got into a car with a driver who was not his regular. We always thought he was killed by someone who may have seen him  as a threat.’

Mr Umunna, who is said to have been a tribal chief known as Ben Osi Umunna, was a well-known  and popular businessman in the country, as well as the chairman of a Nigerian football club.

On one internet forum, he is described by a contributor as  ‘the business mogul who came back from England and changed the  face of Enugu in the late Eighties and also became the chairman of Rangers International.

‘He provided a lot of jobs and he became an instant hit. He helped [charitable cases, including] a group of widows, who were on his payroll until he died in a ghastly motor  accident about ’90 or ’91.’

Mr Umunna travelled to England by boat in the mid-Sixties, arriving at Liverpool, to improve his prospects and made his way to London after a stranger gave him money for the train fare.

A spokesman for Chuka Umunna said: ‘Chuka’s father died more than 20 years ago in very tragic  circumstances.

 Chuka  lived through hardship after his late father demise , stating that the occurrence shook his faith and that he had to grow up quickly. His mother, who had given up her job to become a full-time mum when he was born, was forced to go back to work after his father’s death to cater for the family.

Chuka Late Dad 

Umunna admitted to using “soft drugs” in his youth, stating that it was nothing more than marijuana and that it was something he wasn’t proud of. His hasn’t been condemned by critics for his open confession about his past. This is probably because of how far he was able to overcome his past to rise to his present position and the fact that he may not be the only public figure or politician with a questionable past. Many have risen above their earlier days, and have grown to become invaluable assets to society. He is not the first; and he certainly will not be the last.

Chuka Umunna obtained a degree in English and French Law from the University of Manchester and then studied for a semester at the University of Burgundy in Dijon, before going on to study for a Master of Arts at Nottingham Law School. He specialized in employment law before his election and worked at a law firm primarily acting for employees but also employers. He holds a number of position in various NGO’s, charities, and organisations among which are his membership of Compass, the Fabian Society, GMB and Unite, He is a board member of Generation Next, a not for profit social enterprise providing activities for young people in London. He is also a supporter of Cassandra Learning Centre, a charity raising awareness and working to stop domestic violence.

In November 2007, The Sunday Independent identified Umunna as one of ten young, gifted and black people in British politics. He has one sister, is unmarried, and currently lives in Streatham, South London.

The similarities between this young man and the president of the United States are striking. Each of them was born to parents of different races – a Black African father, and a Caucasian mother; each of them has an undergraduate degree in Law – Umunna has a Law degree from Manchester University; and each of them practiced Law for a while before becoming politicians. Not to forget – both of them are good-looking, charming, and charismatic.
As similar as Umunna’s history is to President Obama’s, it is an association he would rather do without. A British newspaper described him as “Barack Obama for Britian” while opinions are rife that he may indeed end up becoming the UK’s Obama.
Umunna’s background is quite a story. His father was an Igbo trader from Awka, in Anambra State, and his mother, an English-Irish woman, a daughter of a High Court judge. He once said that his father arrived in the UK after a long journey on a boat from Nigeria in the 1960s. Without a suitcase nor any funds, a stranger paid his train fare to London where he was to meet up and stay with friends. He survived by doing various odd jobs – doing dishes in kitchens and washing limousine cars. Within 15 years he built up a higlt successful enterprise – an import and export business, doing trade between Europe and West Africa.
However, his life was marred by tragedy and some indiscretions in his teenage years. His father died when he was only 13 years old and he admitted to using marijuana in his teens. His father died in a mysterious car crash in Nigeria after losing an election in his home state, Anambra. There were speculations as to whether his death was a murder but Umunna has declined commenting on it. He lived through hardship after that, stating that the occurrence shook his faith and that he had to grow up quickly. His mother, who had given up her job to become a full-time mum when he was born, was forced to go back to work after his father’s death to cater for the family.
Umunna admitted to using “soft drugs” in his youth, stating that it was nothing more than marijuana and that it was something he wasn’t proud of. His hasn’t been condemned by critics for his open confession about his past. This is probably because of how far he was able to overcome his past to rise to his present position and the fact that he may not be the only public figure or politician with a questionable past. Many have risen above their earlier days, and have grown to become invaluable assets to society. He is not the first; and he certainly will not be the last.
Chuka Umunna obtained a degree in English and French Law from the University of Manchester and then studied for a semester at the University of Burgundy in Dijon, before going on to study for a Master of Arts at Nottingham Law School. He specialized in employment law before his election and worked at a law firm primarily acting for employees but also employers. He holds a number of position in various NGO’s, charities, and organisations among which are his membership of Compass, the Fabian Society, GMB and Unite, He is a board member of Generation Next, a not for profit social enterprise providing activities for young people in London. He is also a supporter of Cassandra Learning Centre, a charity raising awareness and working to stop domestic violence.
In November 2007, The Sunday Independent identified Umunna as one of ten young, gifted and black people in British politics. He has one sister, is unmarried, and currently lives in Streatham, South London.
- See more at: http://connectnigeria.com/articles/2012/07/17/nigerian-born-british-mp-chuka-umunna-tipped-to-become-labour-party-leader/#sthash.XnvD30hY.dpuf