LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) – JPMorgan has hired former senior British politician Chuka Umunna to head up its environmental, social and governance (ESG) work in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The appointment was announced within the bank in a memo seen by Reuters and reported earlier by the Financial Times. A JPMorgan spokesman confirmed the contents of the memo.

The hiring makes Umunna one of Britain’s most senior Black bankers. He joins JPMorgan from PR company Edelman, where he co-led its ESG consultancy.

Umunna was a senior figure in the main opposition Labour party before leaving to help found the short-lived Change UK party. He later joined the Liberal Democrats.

Umunna follows a well-trodden path of former lawmakers taking top finance roles.

Last year former finance minister Sajid Javid took an advisory role at JPMorgan, while this month one of his predecessors George Osborne was named a partner at M&A firm Robey Warshaw. (Reporting by Iain Withers. Editing by Mark Potter)

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