Labour’s new Hampstead and Kilburn MP Tulip Siddiq says her general election victory feels like a re-run of her predecessor Glenda Jackson’s first election.
Ms Siddiq, who beat Conservative Simon Marcus by 1,138 votes to become MP at last Thursday’s election, drew parallels between Ms Jackson’s victory in 1992, when Neil Kinnock’s Labour Party failed to gain power, and her own success amid Ed Miliband’s failure to become prime minister.
“The constituency Labour Party said that’s how they felt in 1992 when Glenda won but the rest of the country lost,” said Ms Siddiq. “I was disappointed, a lot my friends didn’t get in, and very personally disappointed for Ed Miliband.
“On the other hand, we increased our majority in Hampstead and Kilburn by 30 times the size. This number of people have never voted for Labour before.”
Ms Siddiq, a former Camden Council cabinet member who lives in Finchley Road, took to the stage following the vote count in Somers Town Community Centre at around 5am on Friday to discover the result of the election.
She was joined on stage by her husband Christian Percy, as well as her mother, sister, brother and supporters after being announced winner.
Addressing onlookers at the election count, she said: “I’m absolutely honoured to be standing here as the elected MP for Hampstead and Kilburn.
“Whether you put your faith in me and voted for me, whether you stood in the rain and leafleted for hours on end, whether you spent every weekend knocking on doors for me, this is the reason why I won so thank you.
“This is the constituency in which I’ve grown up, where I went to school, where my parents got married in the 1970s, where I used to write for my local paper. Hampstead and Kilburn is my home which is why I’m proud to represent Hampstead and Kilburn in parliament.
“By voting for me you have shown that you put faith in Labour values - values of fairness, of social justice, of equality, values about protecting our public services, about making sure we keep the NHS and making sure we look after those who are vulnerable.”
Ms Siddiq was not joined by Ms Jackson during the election count. She said the 79-year-old had been campaigning for her during the day but “couldn’t hack the late night” at the count.
The new MP joined her colleagues for their first day in parliament yesterday and insisted she would work as hard in the Commons as she did on her campaign to be elected.
“Hampstead and Kilburn has never been very comfortable in terms of a majority,” she said. “Everyone knows I worked really hard on the campaign. I was quietly confident I would win.
“I will work hard in opposition and I will hold the Conservatives to account.”
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