Abena Oppong-Asare says she has been taken for a junior member of staff at Westminster

This article is more than 8 months old

This article is more than 8 months old

Two black female MPs have told of how they have been mistaken for other politicians and for parliamentary staff members in their first few weeks working in Westminster.

Abena Oppong-Asare, the new MP for the London seat Erith & Thamesmead, has claimed that a Conservative MP who saw her outside the Commons chamber put his bag in her hands and asked her to look after it, not realising she too was an MP.

In a string of tweets about her experiences since being elected, the former councillor said one MP had confused her with another black MP, and on realising his mistake said expressed surprise that there were “more of you”.

She tweeted: “In my first week someone came up to me confusing me with another black MP. I said no I’m the other black sista from [Erith and Thamesmead].

“He raised he eyebrows and said wow there more of you [sic].”

Oppong-Asare, who is chair of the Labour Women’s Network, also described how an MP from another party came to talk to her about a conversation they had apparently had together before Christmas.

She tweeted: “I realised a few mins in she got me confused with another #BlackSista.

“I’m thinking I might need to write my name on my forehead as I think some people are really struggling to tell the difference.”

On the incident outside the Commons’ chamber she wrote: “One of the Tory MPs walked straight to me to put his bag in my hands asking me to look after it. #ThisIsWhyRepresentationMatters.”

Her colleague Florence Eshalomi, the newly elected MP for Vauxhall, replacing Kate Hoey, wrote to her online: “Girl I also got confused for another black sista MP as we were coming out of the voting lobby…… but I have to admit it was by a fellow Labour MP.

“Guess we all need to wear massive name tags right.”

This is not the first time black female MPs have complained about mistaken identity.

Dawn Butler, the shadow women and equalities minister, who is running to be deputy leader of the party, said she was once mistaken for being a cleaner.

Butler, who is the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, said she was in a members-only lift when an MP, who she has never named, told her: “This lift really isn’t for cleaners.”

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The Labour MP for Brent Central said it had been one of “so many incidents” of racism she had encountered while in parliament.

She also said that in 2005, a minister had also once challenged her about being on the Commons terrace, which is reserved for MPs. She said he remarked: “They’re letting anybody in nowadays.”

MPs rallied to support and sympathise with Oppong-Asare and Eshalomi online. However, the shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, was criticised for saying she had a “similar experience”.

Rayner, who is running to be deputy leader of the party, wrote: “Me and Jess Phillips often have the same problem because we both have an accent despite them being totally different.”

She later deleted the message, saying her remark on mistaken identity had been poorly judged, adding: “As I would in no way compare that to my colleagues who are mistaken due to the colour of their skin.”

One Labour supporter online wrote: “For future reference when Black women are talking about their lived experiences, simply listen and fight the urge to interject.”

A Labour member wrote that Rayner’s remark meant he would no longer vote for her in the deputy leadership election.