Victory for Seema Malhotra in Feltham and Heston

Seema Malhotra has become the sixth Asian female Member of Parliament after winning the Feltham and Heston by-election last night.

Malhotra, who is only the 28th MP from the Black and Minority Ethnic community, increased Labour's majority from 4,658 to 6,203, a net swing of 8.6 percent from the Conservatives.

The 39-year-old local resident pulled in 12,639 votes while Conservative candidate Mark Bowen came second with 6,436 votes. Liberal Democrats candidate Roger Crouch held on to third place with 1,364 votes.

The by-election came about following the unfortunate death of Alan Keen MP last month after he lost his battle with cancer. Turnout yesterday was under 29 percent, the lowest in a by-election for 11 years.

A triumphant Malhotra, who was an adviser to senior Labour leader Harriet Harman during her stint as Leader of the Opposition in 2010, said the victory was a wake-up call for Prime Minister David Cameron.

She added,

Even on a lower turnout we've increased substantially our majority and the Tories have got to be asking the question of why. This is a really important message that's been sent to Mr Cameron.

OBV director Simon Woolley said,

I've worked with Seema both in Government and as a community activist. She is very passionate about social and racial justice. It's in her DNA. I've no doubt she will be an excellent representative for the people of Feltham and Heston and a good role model for women and Black communities.