Kate Osamor defies the swing against Labour snapping up 65% of the vote in Edmonton

NIGERIAN-born Member of Parliament for Edmonton Kate Osamor defied to national swing against the Labour Party yesterday by getting re-elected in her north London seat with a thumping 65% of the vote.

Ms Osamor, 51, first got elected in 2015 and has now defended her seat twice. Last night,, she beat off the Conservative Party challenge, attracting 26,217 votes and although she got 65% of the vote share, the Labour Party actually suffered a slight fall of 6.5% in Edmonton but this was enough to her Ms Osamor re-elected.

Last year, Ms Osamor resigned as the shadow international development secretary amid accusations that she had misled the public over her son’s drug conviction. Her 29-year-old son Ishmael employed by her parliamentary office as a senior communications officer, was handed a community sentence on 19 October 2018 after being caught with drugs worth £2,500 at Bestival in Dorset in 2017.

Ishmael Osamor pleaded guilty to charges of possession with intent to supply cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine and cannabis on September 18 2017 at Bournemouth crown court. It was accepted by the prosecution that he was looking after the drugs for friends and Judge Stephen Climie said he had received five references in support of Ishamel, which played a significant part in his decision to impose a community sentence of 200 hours of unpaid work.

However, Ms Osamor MP got mixed up in matters after the revelation that she may have known about the court case before the sentencing. When media organisations requested that the judge release the names of the references, the judge declined to do so but he identified three of the authors as Ishmael his partner and his mother.

Despite having gone through all such turmoil, Ms Osamor has been able to rebuild her parliamentary career, getting reselected by the Labour Party and yesterday, she coasted home to victory in the general election. Ms Osamor, who is a supporter of a second referendum, represents a constituency that voted 54.59% in favour of Remain.

Ms Osamor also prides herself on helping countless constituents with difficult immigration cases to navigate what she describes as the Conservative government’s hostile environment. She has also been a fervent supporter of those unfairly affected by the Windrush Scandal.