An English-Nigerian poet, Ndukwe Onuoha of the Labor Party, was elected councilor in his ward.
Onuoha was elected to represent Mackworth Ward and New Zealand on the Derby City Council.
Derby Council announced the poet’s win via a tweet on Friday.
According to Derby Council, Onuoha won 1,168 votes to become a councilor.
The council tweeted,
“MACKWORTH & NEW ZEALAND RESULTS Ndukwe Onuoha (Labour), Gaurav Pandey (Conservatives), John Whitby (Labour) have been elected. Labour GAIN,”
“MACKWORTH & NEW ZEALAND RESULTS
Ndukwe Onuoha (Labour), Gaurav Pandey (Conservatives), John Whitby (Labour) have been elected. Labour GAIN.#LocalElection2023 — Derby City Council (@DerbyCC) May 5, 2023.”
Nwando Umeh, another Nigerian and Labor Party candidate, ran as one of the representatives of Mackworth Ward and New Zealand but lost after winning 1,084 votes, the council said.
Recall that the law states that an Englishman or citizen of the Commonwealth – to which Nigeria belongs, which was once a British colony – is eligible to run for councilor in the UK.
The UK-based poet was nominated by his party in November 2022 and was the only candidate of African descent to win.
