- Chuka Umunna's father, Bennett, was killed in mysterious crash in Nigeria
- Tragic loss made politician fiercely protective of the women in his life
- This could help explain startling decision to quit Labour leadership race
- He bowed out claiming he was not ready to put family through scrutiny
The
loss of his father in a mysterious car crash which friends fear was a
'political assassination' may help to explain Chuka Umunna's startling
decision to quit the Labour leadership race.
He
bowed out of the contest last week claiming he was not ready to put
himself and his family through the intense scrutiny that comes with the
position.
And
it is thought his fierce protection of the women in his life could have
stemmed from the fact that he was forced to become the 'man of the
family' aged just 13.
His
father, Bennett, died in a car crash soon after standing to be a
governor of a Nigerian state on an anti-bribery platform in 1992.
Chuka
Umunna's father, Bennett (above), was killed in mysterious crash
in Nigeria when the Shadow Business Secretary was just 13
Mr
Umunna, 36, who was the bookies' favourite to emerge as Labour leader,
said the devastating loss had a 'profound' effect on him.
'Well, I became the man of the family, I suppose, and it was very difficult,' he has previously said.
'It is very formative to lose a parent at a young age, you immediately have a sense of mortality.'
As
a consequence of that car crash, Mr Umunna is extremely close to his
mother, Patricia, and sister, Chinwe, who has recently had a baby.
Friends
described them as an 'incredibly tight-knit' unit, and said he was
unprepared for the media spotlight which followed his announcement to
stand as leader, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
It
is thought the high-flying MP for Streatham, in south London, also
wanted to protect the privacy of his girlfriend, Alice Sullivan, with
whom he is planning to start a family.
His father grew up in Ogbunka, east of Lagos, and arrived in Britain from Nigeria in the 1960s with virtually nothing aged 33.
He
worked cleaning cars while studying business administration before
starting a successful company importing and exporting between Europe and
west Africa.
It is thought his fierce protection of
the women in his life, pictured with his mother Patricia and sister
Chinwe, could have stemmed from the fact that he was forced to become
the 'man of the family' aged just 13
In
1976 Bennett Umunna married Patricia Milmo, whose father was High Court
judge, Sir Helenus Milmo QC, who was also a prosecutor at the Nuremberg
Trials.
Two
years later Chuka was born and he had a comfortable upbringing in a
large family home in Streatham. He was a schoolboy chorister at
Southwark Cathedral.
But
his father, known as Ben to his friends, was killed in April 1992,
after his car ploughed into a truck carrying logs in Nigeria.
Ron
Noades, who was the chairman at Crystal Palace while Bennett Umunna was
a director, believes his death was a 'political assassination'.
He
had put himself forward to be the governor of Anambra, a state in
south-eastern Nigeria where he was a tribal chief, only a few weeks
before he died. But he lost the vote.
'Ben
was doing well in his political career in Nigeria, but he was also one
of those that wouldn't have taken bribes as he was an honest bloke,' Mr
Noades told a local paper in 2012.
'My view is somebody saw him as a threat and my suspicion is he was assassinated.'
'He didn't have his usual driver and he wasn't travelling by day either. There were so many things that were out of character.'
A
British death certificate states he was living in the city of Enugu in
the neighbouring Enugu state, and died on the Onitsha-Owerri highway in
Anambra state.
The document does not give his cause of death, but says a local death certificate was presented as ‘evidence of death’.
The high-flying MP for Streatham, in
south London, also wanted to protect the privacy of his girlfriend,
Alice Sullivan, with whom he is planning to start a family (pictured
together)
At the time Nigeria was run under the iron fist of military leader General Ibrahim Babangida and corruption was rife.
The accident was widely covered in the media in Nigeria and it is believed some minutes of silence were observed in Enugu.
The
family was left devastated by the loss and Chukka Umunna has previously
said: 'He thought he was going to live to 100, but he was 50 and I was
13. It was hard, very hard.
'He was something of a national figure, there were thousands of people at the funeral in Nigeria.'
Mr Umunna spoke out yesterday for the first time to deny claims that there is some kind of secret behind his leadership U-turn.
The
shadow business secretary and former UK garage DJ has given frank
answers about his personal life and said he was 'honest' about the fact
that he smoked marijuana in the past.
After 48 hours of lurid speculation on social media, he told The Sunday Mirror: 'I've never had anything to hide'.
Mr
Umunna, 36, also dismissed rumours about his sexuality and suggestions
of any financial scandal but admitted running for the top job was “too
much, too soon”.
Mr Umunna is a member of a private and exclusive boys club behind the Bank of England called the M Den
He was linked to the leadership the moment Miliband stepped down and said he hadn't enjoyed a single day of it.
The politician said his girlfriend, mother and 97-year-old grandmother have been hounded by the press.
He
even revealed that Ms Sullivan's mother and grandmother were approached
as they tucked into Sunday lunch by journalists asking about their
relationship.
"My
girlfriend's parents were having lunch with her grandmother, who is
almost 100, and they were disturbed by a snapper and reporters while
they were having that Sunday roast last weekend," he said.
"They would not have had that were it not for me and I just find that quite difficult to deal with."
His frank interview comes after the most recent allegation claims that he took money from Manchester-based firm Signal Tax.
The
Sun claims that they filmed staff from the firm advising a reporter
posing as a Bangladeshi businessman to take advantage of his
non-domestic tax status to pay less tax in the UK.
'Non-doms'
can cite another country as their place of residence - or 'domicile' -
to declare their earnings overseas, even if they are earned in Britain,
and only pay tax if they move that money to the UK.
Mr
Umunna has faced received criticism from Tory MP's who believe it was
hypocritical for him to accept the money after campaigning so vehemently
for a Government clampdown on tax avoidance.
The
news comes after it was revealed that Mr Umunna is a member of a
private and exclusive boys club behind the Bank of England called the M
Den.
He
has a special key to a secret entrance and keeps a cognac locker at the
club, which sells bottles for anything between £300 and £4,000.
On the opening night of its restaurant, Chuka's personal friend Tinie Tempah played a 90-minute set.
And
he even has a bar named after him. The Chuka bar opened in April with a
glamorous ceremony in which horses were photographed inside, being
ridden by Britain's top professional polo players.
Umunna
was photographed that night surrounded by women at the club, which
calls itself a 'boys playground' and exhibits a £10,000 pop art picture
of a topless woman leaning over a snooker table by American photographer
Miles Aldridge.
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