Today marks 25 years since four black MPs were welcomed into parliament

TODAY MARKS 25 years since the historic day that four black and Asian MPs were elected to parliament. 

Bernie Grant, Diane Abbott, Keith Vaz and Paul Boateng entered the previously all-white House of Commons on June 11, 1987, Labour ticket. The party relies heavily on the votes of black and minority ethnic people.

At the 2010 election, only 16 per cent of them supported the Conservatives. More than two thirds voted Labour.

The election of Abbott, Grant and Boateng, who were all members of the Labour Party Black Sections campaign for greater political representation, marked the first time African-Caribbeans had entered the House of Commons.

The first Asian MP, Dadabhai Naraoji, was elected in Finsbury Central, north London, in 1892. This was followed by the election of Indian-born, Shapurji Saklatavala in Battersea North, south London, in 1922.

Since 1987, the four MPs have now increased to 27 MPs of colour, which includes Streatham MP Chuka Umunna, Tooting MP Sadiq Khan and Conservative Maidstone and the Weald MP Helen Grant and East Surrey’s Samuel Gyamfi-Gyima. 

Some of them have gone onto take top positions in their respective parties.

Last night, (June 10) a celebration was held to mark Grant, Abbott, Vaz and Boateng’s victory at the Bernie Grant Centre in Tottenham, north London.

Grant, who died in 2000, was widely known for his remark that police had got a “bloody good hiding” the night one officer was murdered in a riot on the Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham, although he later said the comment had been quoted out of context. 

Abbott, a former member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC), who broke several barriers by becoming Britain’s first black woman MP has gone on to become the shadow health minister for the opposition. 

Keith Vaz is now the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee.

The leader of the Labour party Ed Miliband told The Voice: “Their election as Labour MPs was both a symbol of progress and also showed how my party has always been at the forefront of fight against discrimination.

He added: “The country has come a long way since then in terms of opportunities, policing and discrimination. But we still have a long way to go. 

“Hundreds of thousands of people will be encouraged and inspired to vote or even stand for election because they see people like David Lammy or Diane Abbott in parliament,” said the leader of opposition.