Labour Party members in Tooting have chosen Dr Rosena Allin-Khan to be their candidate in the Tooting by-election taking place on 16 June. Rosena will replace Sadiq Khan, who stood down after being elected as Mayor of London last week.
Rosena was born in Tooting and lives in the area with her family. She works as an A&E specialist doctor at St George’s Hospital and is a local councillor. Rosena has also used her medical experience working as an international humanitarian aid worker.
Of mixed Polish and Pakistani heritage, when she was growing up her father worked repairing TVs in Furzedown and her mother worked in a petrol station on Balham High Road.
Rosena has pledged to put the affordability of housing and the protection of key local services like St George’s Hospital at the heart of her campaign.
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan said:
“I love Tooting. I was born and raised here, and there’s no place I would rather raise my children. This community gave my family everything, including a secure home to raise our family.
“It’s an honour to be selected as Labour’s candidate – continuing Sadiq Khan’s work standing up for everyone living across Balham, Earlsfield, Furzedown and Tooting.
“As an A&E specialist doctor at St George’s Hospital and as a mother of two young daughters, I know first-hand how important public services are to local families.
“With local health services under threat and the Tories pushing ahead with plans to take millions of pounds from our local school budgets, my priority will be to ensure our community gets the excellent local services families need and deserve.
“I will also use all my energy to tackle the Tory housing crisis that is pricing out local people from our area. Tooting is a great place to live but too many people are working for long hours every day and still can’t afford to put money aside to save for a deposit. We need to make sure Tooting remains affordable for everyone who lives here.”
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said:
“It was an honour to serve as the MP for Tooting for 11 years – representing the area I’ve lived in all my life. I could think of no better person to now represent Tooting than Rosena.
“Rosena has lived in the area all her life and has always been committed to helping and standing up for local people – whether working as an A&E doctor at St George’s or campaigning as a councillor on issues like protecting childcare services.
“I’m really looking forward to working with Rosena over the coming weeks to tackle the Tory housing crisis, protect key local services and secure the transport links people in Tooting rely upon every day. Rosena has the values, vision and experience to be a brilliant champion for Tooting.”
