Britain’s opposition Labour party candidate Seema Malhotra, daughter of Indian immigrants, on Friday won the bypoll to the Feltham and Heston constituency in London with an increased majority over the Conservatives.
The by-election to the constituency, a stronghold of the Labour, was caused by the death of former party MP, Alan Keen.
Delighted with her win, Ms. Malhotra said it was a “wake-up call” for the David Cameron government. “This result shows that this Tory-led government is totally out of touch.”
The result proved that the opposition Labour party, which lost power in 2010, was changing, “listening harder, winning back the trust of the people we seek to serve,” she said.
Ms. Malhotra increased Labour’s majority from 4,658 to 6,203 when she won with 12,639 votes. Conservative candidate Mark Bowen came second with 6,436 votes, while Roger Crouch, the Liberal Democrat, held on to the third place with 1,364 votes.
Ms. Malhotra grew up in Feltham and went to school in Heston.
She was an adviser to senior Labour leader Harriet Harman during her stint as Leader of the Opposition in 2010.
