Operation Black Vote call for Black candidate to fight safe Tottenham seat

A safe Labour seat that came available after the sad death of Bernie Grant.

The new devolved politics has by -passed Briton's Black communities on a grand scale. In spite of all the fine rhetoric of a more inclusive society, the number of Black politicians has gone down. In Tottenham Labour have a chance to halt the slide by selecting one of the three talented Black people on the short list.

Simon Woolley National Co-ordinator stated that: 'Labour must not lose this opportunity to stem the slide of so few Black MP's. If they don't, Black people will believe that there is no place for them in British democracy. This is not personal this is about representative democracy. Party bosses should remember that the number one reason why Black people don't get involved in politics is because there are so few Black MP's.'

One of the last letters that Bernie Grant wrote shortly before his death was to the Prime Minister Tony Blair. In it he highlighted his deep concern about the lack of Black politicians coming through. The Prime Minister stated that he recognised his concerns and arranged a meeting that, due to his death, could not happen.

Lee Jasper Chair of OBV stated: 'Labour must put their money where their mouth is. It's not only the people of Tottenham that will be eagerly watching how the Labour party select but the whole of Black Britain will wait to see if we are allowed to fulfil our potential within the corridors of power.'

Notes to the editor

Labour have a majority of 20,200 The four candidates are David Lammy, Sharon Grant, Shahid Malik and Seemana Khan