By Thomas L Blair 26 June 2017 copyright

Disabled at birth with the eye condition nystagmus, Battersea’s first Labour MP since 2010 overcame a large Tory majority to capture the south London seat with a majority of 2,416. Marsha De Cordova MP combines disability rights campaigning with her local government political duties. She focuses on building new homes and tackling rent levels. Moreover, she aims to mobilise support for a “more just exit” from the European Union.

De Cordova is special too among the new parliamentarians.  More ethnic-minority and women have entered the “Mother of Parliaments” than ever before. Among them the first turbaned Sikh, more women from science backgrounds, and two new disabled MPs. Now, with 10 newly elected MPs from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, the total in the Commons rises from 41 to 51 – a record high.

Results show that four black women joined the new parliament: Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative MP for Saffron Walden, Fiona Onasanya, the Labour MP for Peterborough, Labour’s Eleanor Smith for Wolverhampton South West, and Marsha de Cordova, the Labour MP for Battersea.

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There’s more to come in Conquering Moments of Political Despair