Elected in May 2015 to the north London constituency of Edmonton, Kate Osamor MP doesn’t quite fit the “pale, male and stale” stereotype of British politicians. Born and raised in London, Kate worked as a practice manager in the NHS until early last year when she was selected for her local safe Labour seat.I headed to Westminster this week to meet Kate, keen to find out what Parliament and politics is like for black women today. Taking a seat in her office, which, a good few months in, still feels pretty sparse, I ask what first got her interested in politics. “Yeah, a lot of people ask me that question,” she smiles, as she relaxes into our chat.It’s not hard to see why we’re asking her so often; people who identify as BAME make up just 6% of the 650 MPs in Westminster, although the 2011 census found that 13% of Brits say they come from a non-white background. According to the BBC , only 29% of MPs are women, too.Therefore Kate, a working class black woman, breaks the shitty mould of what we expect our MPs to look, act, and think like, thank the lord, and people often want to know how she got there.“I’ve always used my experiences to inform my politics,” says Kate, “what I saw growing up made me aware of how hard life can be."Kate’s mum was born in Nigeria, arriving in the UK when she was still young. “She had four children, which is tough, and then my dad passed away when I was still quite little.”Through her childhood, Kate saw her mother, Martha, working three, sometimes four jobs, “dealing with racism and sexism, in a system where all the odds were already stacked against her.”Rather than let it break her, Martha pushed back hard, going on to be a councillor, and later the deputy leader of Haringey Council.“I grew up watching her, and could see that, with some serious struggle, and by talking about things that matter to us, you can really get somewhere.”For Kate, taking up left wing politics was a no-brainer.“I know what it’s like to rely on a key meter, I know how it feels to have money come in, and to have to ask yourself the question: Should I pay my bills or should I buy food? I’ve lived it, and I can’t forget that.”