Lewisham East by-election result: Who is Labour's Janet Daby?

Winner: Janet Daby was voted as Lewisham East's new MP
PA
Fiona Simpson15 June 2018
WEST END FINAL

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Labour’s Janet Daby has been named as Lewisham East’s new MP.

The new MP won with a vastly reduced majority for the Labour Party. Numbers were slashed from 21, 213 to 5,629.

The mother-of-two, who previously refused to disclose her age to the Evening Standard but joked she was in her mid-forties, will replace colleague Heidi Alexander.

Ms Daby has was successful in the by-election
PA

Ms Alexander quit her position to take up a role working with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Ms Daby is the daughter of two Windrush-generation immigrants who came to the UK in the Fifties and Sixties. Her late father is Guyanese Indian and her mother Jamaican.

She first lived in Deptford, and attended Blackheath Bluecoat School in Greenwich.

Janet Daby is Lewisham East's new MP 
Labour Party

Ms Daby hails her mother for inspiring her political awakening after she defended their home from racist thugs pelting eggs at her childhood home.

She previously said: “I remember my mother cleaning the windows and just reassuring us, her children, telling us not to be afraid.

“I remember thinking ‘Why is this happening?’ and ‘Why is this happening to us?’ It was just blatant racism. That always stayed with me, that and the strength of my mother, how she looked after us and kept us emotionally secure and safe.”

Despite voting for Labour from an early age, Ms Daby only became politically active 11 years ago.

Lewisham East by-election: full results

Lab hold

Janet Daby (Lab) 11,033 (50.20%, -17.75%)

Lucy Salek (LD) 5,404 (24.59%, +20.17%)

Ross Archer (C) 3,161 (14.38%, -8.62%)

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah (Green) 788 (3.59%, +1.88%)

Mandu Reid (Women) 506 (2.30%)

David Kurten (UKIP) 380 (1.73%, +0.04%)

Anne Marie Waters (FBM) 266 (1.21%)

Maureen Martin (CPA) 168 (0.76%, +0.28%)

Howling Laud Hope (Loony) 93 (0.42%)

Massimo DiMambro (DVP) 67 (0.30%)

Sean Finch (Libertarian) 38 (0.17%)

Charles Carey (ND) 37 (0.17%)

Patrick Gray (Radical) 20 (0.09%)

Thomas Hall (YPP) 18 (0.08%)

Lab maj 5,629 (25.61%)

18.96% swing Lab to LD

Electorate 66,140; Turnout 21,979 (33.23%, -36.05%)

She was elected to Lewisham council in 2010 and later became deputy mayor of the borough.

During her time as a councillor she succeeding in having Transport for London extend the 225 bus route and saved her daughters nursery.

She also raised awareness of female genital mutilation and improved support for families hurt by knife crime.

Ms Daby worked to mentor people from ethnic minority communities who wanted to get involved in politics and even coached one of her challengers at the selection stages of the by-election Sakina Sheikh.

In the hours after her win, Ms Daby vowed to keep as close a relationship with the EU as possible.

She said: “For me it's about ensuring that we have as close a relationship to the EU as possible and that's what I'll be arguing for and that's what I'll be putting forward my views on.

"I voted for Jeremy Corbyn twice in the leadership election and obviously within politics not everybody will agree on everything... but we need to find a way around it that holds the Tories to account."

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