Over the weekend, Labour launched their new Bernie Grant Leadership Programme, timed to coincide with their celebration of “36 years since the first Black MPs were elected”. Their glitzy announcement video featured contributions from David Lammy and Dawn Butler, who were evidently unaware that the entire premise was incorrect. The first black MP was elected in 1767…

Clearly James Townsend, was also the first black Mayor of London, slipped Labour’s mind. However, this wasn’t just an isolated omission. Labour also failed to mention, amongst others, Henry Redhead Yorke, elected 1841, who was the son of slaves and Peter McLagan, elected 1865, Scotland’s first non-white MP. This didn’t stop David Lammy from repeating the claim that:

“Thirty-six years ago, the first black MPs were elected into the House of Commons to represent their communities as Labour MPs.”

This piece of myth-making is despite the fact the Labour Party didn’t exist when the first black MPs were elected to the Commons.

Guido will leave it to co-conspirators to decide whether Labour’s black history blunder was simple incompetence, a deliberate misrepresentation of history, or a judgement on the ethnicity of Parliament’s trailblazers. If Guido is being generous and not calling Labour’s myth makers knowing liars, they definitely should pay more attention in class during black history month.