Barely a week after his re-election as a member of the British parliament, Nigerian-born Chuka Umunna has decided to take his political clout to the highest level in the United Kingdom. Umunna formally declared his intention on Tuesday to become the next Labour Party leader, a position that could land him on 10 Downing Street as Britain’s Prime Minister, if he defeats four other aspirants for the post and Labour wins the general election in 2020.
The other aspirants are Liz Kendall, Yvette Cooper, Andy Burnham and Tristram Hunt.
Labour is expected to set out the timetable for the leadership election on Wednesday (today). The 36-year-old Umunna, who is currently Labour’s shadow business secretary, is popularly referred to in the UK as Chuka Chucks and Britain’s Barack Obama. The Nigerian-born Briton, isaid he could lead the party, which suffered a crunching defeat by the Conservative Party, back to power within five years.