Tottenham by-election, 2000

The Labour Member of Parliament for Tottenham, Bernie Grant, died on 8 April 2000, creating a by-election in his constituency.

Grant was one of the first four black MPs and the constituency was one of the centres of the London Afro-Caribbean community. However, Grant's widow Sharon (who was white) declared her intention to seek selection and this split opinion within the local Labour Party. Both Sharon and Bernie Grant had been on the left-wing of the party whereas the leading black contender for the nomination, David Lammy, was a supporter of Tony Blair. After a close-fought selection battle, Lammy was chosen. During the campaign, Sharon Grant made a public show of supporting his election campaign in order not to allow disunity in the Labour Party.

Polling day in the by-election was on 22 June. David Lammy comfortably retained the seat for Labour on a low turnout. Neither of the other main party candidates was able to mount a credible challenge in a seat where Labour was so strongly ahead, with Liberal Democrat candidate and future Chippenham MP Duncan Hames finishing second, and Conservative candidate and future Battersea MP Jane Ellison coming third.

Results

Tottenham by-election, 2000

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Lammy	8,785	53.5	-15.8
	Liberal Democrat	Duncan Hames	3,139	19.1	+7.3
	Conservative	Jane Ellison	2,634	16.0	+0.3
	Socialist Alliance	Weyman Bennett	885	5.4	N/A
	Green	Peter Budge	606	3.7	+0.9
	Reform 2000	Erol Basarik	177	1.1	N/A
	UKIP	Ashwinkumar Tanna	136	0.8	N/A
	Independent Conservative	Dorian de Braâm	55	0.3	N/A
Majority			5,646	34.4	-19.2
Turnout			16,417	25.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election result, 1997

General Election 1997: Tottenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bernie Grant	26,121	69.3
	Conservative	Andrew Scantlebury	5,921	15.7
	Liberal Democrat	Neil Hughes	4,064	10.8
	Green	Peter Budge	1,059	2.8
	ProLife Alliance	Leelan Tay	210	0.5
	Workers Revolutionary	Christopher Anglin	181	0.5
	Socialist Equality	Tania Kent	148	0.4
Majority			20,200	53.6
Turnout			37,704
	Labour hold		Swing