Rosena Allin-Khan has won Tooting—what lessons can we take away?

At around one in the morning on Friday it was announced that Rosena Allin-Khan has been elected MP for Tooting—winning the seat that Sadiq Khan vacated after winning the London Mayoral election last month. She smashed expectations, winning 55.9 per cent of the vote (up 8.7 per cent from last May) to Conservative rival Dan Watkins' 36.1 per cent. She did not give a victory speech, but made a short statement about Jo Cox, the Labour MP who tragically died yesterday.

A day spent speaking to residents in the south London constituency confirmed that Allin-Khan—and to an extent, Sadiq Khan—are responsible for this spectacular victory, not Jeremy Corbyn. Sometimes in elections, all that matters is the number of doors that you knock on.

Chatting to Allin-Khan—a 39-year-old trauma and emergency doctor at St George’s hospital in Tooting—the day before the election, she was clear about what she has to offer. “The main thing that sets me apart is that I am truly locally-born-and-bred: Tooting has been my home for literally 39 years—there are three generations of my family here.

“I’m half-Polish, half Pakistani, married a Welshman. I came from a very simple working class background, my mum worked in a petrol station. We do laugh that maybe Sadiq’s dad filled his bus up in there! My dad had a tiny little business repairing TVs in the constituency.”

Did the fact that Allin-Khan is, as she puts it, “Tooting through-and-through,” swing the result in her direction?

It played a significant part. Outside the small polling station at St Nicholas’ Church, near the hustle-and-bustle of Tooting High Street—crammed with shoppers—a 30-year-old woman explained enthusiastically to me why she voted for Allin-Khan: “I voted for the person that I met and that I’ve seen in the community—the person who’s advertised and who’s been knocking on doors.” I asked another young woman who voted Labour whether she knew much about Allin-Khan. Locking the wheels of the pram she was pushing, she turned and explained “I know that she grew up in Tooting, I know that she is a doctor at St George’s A&E.” Allin-Khan seems genuinely to have made an impression—most Labour voters I spoke to had something positive to say about her.

Allin-Khan told me that the Tooting seat “stopped being safe a long time ago.” In spite of her success, she's right. This is down to changing demographics in the area: it is gentrifying. In the Tooting district the average house price now stands at more than £860,000, and house prices in the constituency have risen faster over the last 20 years than in any other Labour-held London constituency. While Labour has won Tooting since 1974, it was considered a good hold for Sadiq Khan last May, when he won with a majority of just under 3000. Indeed, the day before the election Allin-Khan told me “It is going to be close—I am very sure of that.”

It’s arguable that the popularity of Allin-Khan’s former MP, Sadiq Khan, meant that constituents were more likely to vote Labour this time around. One young man I spoke to explained: “I voted for Sadiq Khan previously so it just felt like a logical continuation.” One woman went even further and explained that she voted for Allin-Khan because of “the fact that she was endorsed by Sadiq Khan.” Sadiq's endorsement itself does not come close to explaining the size of her majority, but it certainly seems to have done her some good.

I spoke to Allin-Khan about Khan’s Mayoral campaign—and also about the campaign of his former rival, Zac Goldsmith. Goldsmith’s campaign was widely criticised for being racially divisive—his campaign targeted British Indians and claimed that their jewellery might be taxed if Khan became Mayor. On the question of whether this constituted a “dog-whistle” campaign, Allin-Khan was direct: “There’s no doubt about it. We were all very disappointed, in London and in Tooting, at the Conservative campaign: how it was divisive and how it was so negative towards Sadiq. But actually, it backfired, didn’t it. It totally backfired.” Khan won 57 per cent of the vote to Goldsmith’s 43.

According to the 2011 census, only 52.4 per cent of Tooting’s residents were born in England. The area has clearly been changed by immigration: most of those I saw walk into polling stations were black or Asian. When I pulled aside one white 50-year-old man to ask how he voted, he hushed me. Walking 20 yards down the road, a Sainsbury’s bag swinging in each hand, he called me over and explained that he didn’t want to reveal his voting intention in such a public place. “I voted Ukip,” he said. “It’s the immigration issue—it’s just got completely out of hand.” He thanked me for asking him, grateful that his concerns were being listened to.

With the EU referendum one week away and arguments on immigration reaching a crescendo as a result, I asked Allin-Khan whether it is stretching public services. “No doubt people are concerned about immigration, but myself? I’m a daughter of two immigrants, Sadiq is a son of immigrants. Immigrants bring a lot to the community, and actually it’s not about immigrants straining public services, it’s about Tory government cuts meaning that public services do not have the money that they need.

“Our local hospital St George’s is operating at a £46m deficit, and this government is making £22m worth of efficiency savings, at a time when the pressures on hospitals are greater than ever because of an ageing population.”

One name that wasn’t mentioned by the voters I spoke to was Jeremy Corbyn. His name was conspicuous by its absence. I asked one man whether Corbyn’s election as leader of the Labour Party influenced his vote: “I would have voted Labour either way.” I asked a woman in her twenties the same question, and she replied: “It’s more about what the Tories are trying to do at the moment—they aren’t doing a great job.” I asked another: “No.” One man summed it up: “My vote was not down to Jeremy Corbyn.”

Perhaps there is a lesson to be learnt here.

Allin-Khan’s party is in turmoil on a national level: the party is filled with MPs hostile to Jeremy Corbyn. The overwhelming majority of them didn’t vote for Corbyn in their leadership election in September, and it is widely thought that his hard-left stance will mean the Party suffers huge losses in 2020. But yet, Allin-Khan put in hard graft and utterly triumphed. I spent yesterday remarking on just how many people knew who she was—even knew a bit about her background. It's a safe bet that most of the other candidates worked hard, but Allin-Khan seems to have done that bit extra.

Maybe her spectacular victory shows that sometimes, local politics can triumph over the national. No matter what your party is up to in Westminster, fight a passionate campaign, work round the clock to convince constituents you will fight for their interests, and you’re in with a good chance.