Labour secured a by-election win yesterday despite its candidate once proposing an ‘uprising’ against the Government.
The victor, Paulette Hamilton, 59, becomes the first black MP in Birmingham.
The by-election in the Erdington constituency was triggered by the death of veteran Labour politician Jack Dromey, who had held the seat since 2010.
While the former nurse increased her party’s vote share slightly from 50.3 per cent in 2019 to 55.5 per cent, turnout was just 27 per cent, suggesting the campaign had failed to inspire voters.
It came after footage emerged of her describing how she had felt torn between democracy and an uprising against the Government.
In 2015, at an event called The Ballot or the Bullet: Does Your Vote Count?, organised by the Organisation of Black Unity, Mrs Hamilton claimed to be unable to decide between voting and an armed struggle as the best way to achieve political aims.
Labour secured a by-election win yesterday despite its candidate once proposing an ‘uprising’ against the Government. The victor, Paulette Hamilton (above), 59, becomes the first black MP in Birmingham
Mrs Hamilton, above, after the by-election result. Footage has emerged of her describing how she had felt torn between democracy and an uprising against the Government. In 2015, at an event called The Ballot or the Bullet: Does Your Vote Count?, organised by the Organisation of Black Unity, Mrs Hamilton claimed to be unable to decide between voting and an armed struggle as the best way to achieve political aims
In footage uncovered by GB News, she said: ‘So you talk about the bullet or the vote.
‘I’m not sure, although I believe in the vote and I believe in our right to use that vote or destroy that vote, I’m not sure that we will get what we really deserve in this country using the vote.
‘But I don’t know if we are a strong enough group to get what we want to get if we have an uprising. I think we will be quashed in such a way we would lose a generation of our young people. So I’m very torn.’ Mrs Hamilton also said it was sometimes necessary to ‘infiltrate other systems if you want to get change’.
Speaking at the event, she referred to the Trojan Horse affair, an alleged hardline Islamic plot to take over some Birmingham schools.
She said: ‘We had Trojan Horse in the council. Our Muslim brothers and sisters for many, many years, there were things out there saying that they had made a plan about how they were going to try and not integrate but ensure that their teachings and what have you got into the system.
‘What then happened was, many of the schools, inner city schools in Birmingham, certain schools, the Muslim families they filled the schools, they then ensured that they took over the governorships.
‘As they took over the governorships they made sure that the heads of those schools were people that they wanted to represent their cause. What they then did with doing all of this, it made sure that their religious views and their beliefs were taken through the education system.’
Sir Keir Starmer refused to suspend her even though her comments questioning the value of democracy emerged before Thursday’s by-election.
Mr Dromey, the husband of Labour’s former deputy leader Harriet Harman, held the Erdington seat for the party in 2019 with a majority of 3,601.
He died at the of age 73 from ‘sudden heart failure’ in January. Mrs Hamilton has been a Birmingham city councillor for 17 years and is the current cabinet member for health and social care.
When asked about her victory, she said she was ‘exhausted but delighted’. She suffered personal tragedy after her father died at the start of the campaign.
In her victory speech, Mrs Hamilton thanked her Labour colleagues for their support ‘through four storms’ during the campaign and her bereavement.
She said: ‘But I’d also like to say a special thank you to Keir Starmer for his endless support – even when my dad died, they were there, they wrapped me in cotton wool, and they supported me, and my dad isn’t even buried yet but they were there when I was crying.’
A Labour Party spokesman said: ‘In Paulette, the people of Birmingham Erdington have elected a great local champion. We’re delighted that this campaign has seen the first black MP elected from a Birmingham constituency.’
Above, Mrs Hamilton arrives for the count at the by-election. In footage uncovered by GB News, she said: ‘So you talk about the bullet or the vote. ‘I’m not sure, although I believe in the vote and I believe in our right to use that vote or destroy that vote, I’m not sure that we will get what we really deserve in this country using the vote’
