Diane Abbott becomes ‘Mother of the House’ after election win

Diane Abbott, Britain's first black and longest-serving female member of parliament (MP) was re-elected as MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington in last week's general election, which saw a landslide victory for the Labour Party over the Conservatives, leading to Sir Keir Starmer being appointed as Britain's new prime minister.

It was Abbott's tenth victory in a row as candidate for Hackney North, having secured her seat with 23,355 votes, beating Conservative candidate David Landau, with 3,457 votes, and Antoinette Fernandez of the Green Party, with 9,275 votes.

Abbott also becomes Mother of the House – a role given to the longest continuously serving female member of parliament. The previous holder was Labour's Harriet Harman, who stepped down at this election.

Since 1987, when Abbott along with Paul Boateng, Keith Vaz and the late Bernie Grant became Britain's first black elected MPs (and in Abbott's case, the first black female elected MP), she has been hailed as a trailblazer in British politics.

TARGET OF HATE

Abbott has also faced some challenges during her career. She was recently reinstated into the Labour Party after being suspended for over a year for a comment she made in a letter to The Observer, which suggested that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience prejudice, but not racism “all their lives”.

Just a few weeks after former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the general election, hundreds took a stand for Abbott at the Hackney Town Hall, demanding her reinstatement into the Labour Party and for her to be given the right to stand as their candidate in the election, to which Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer finally conceded.

While for many years Abbott has campaigned for the voiceless and the marginal groups in society, she, too, has been a target of hate, having received more racist messages via post and online than any other female MP.

Conservative Party donor Frank Hester's comment that seeing Abbott on TV made “you want to hate all black women”, and that the long-serving MP “should be shot”, was widely condemned across all political parties.

The former shadow health secretary, during Jeremy Corbyn's tenure as Labour Party leader, expressed her gratitude to voters at the conclusion of last week's general election results, while stating her intention to continue to champion the cause of the voiceless in society.

She said: “We are here on the morning of a historic Labour victory and I believe we will all remember where we were this morning. This incoming Labour government has the opportunity to be a truly transformative Labour government, and I'm sure that we will all support them in that goal. But let me say this:. I became an MP to give support to those who don't have it, to speak up on issues other people are ignoring and to be a voice for the voiceless. I've not deviated from those goals in 37 years.”

RETAINED SEATS

Abbott, the daughter of Jamaican parents, added: “I'll also say this, 70 years ago my parents came to this country as migrants to make a better life for themselves and a better life for their children. I will never stand by and see anybody, from whatever party, whoever they are, demean and blame migrants for the ills of this society.”

She was among a long list of well-known black Labour MPs who retained their seats in the general election, including Tottenham MP David Lammy, who will sit in Starmer's cabinet as foreign secretary; Brent East MP Dawn Butler, who won in the new constituency after she first won Brent central in 2015; Chi Onwurah, who maintained her Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Central seat; Kate Osamor, who returned successful in the Edmond and Winchmore Hill seat; and Marsha de Cordova, who won a huge majority in retaining her Battersea seat.

For the Conservatives, the successful black MPs were Kemi Badenoch, who retained her seat in Saffron Walden, and will more than likely be among the front runners for the leadership of the party; and former Home Secretary James Cleverly, who retained his seat in close race in Braintree.