Labour fact-checked by Twitter over inaccurate declare about first Black MP
Labour’s tweet attracted criticism for historians (Image: Labour Party / Twitter)
The Labour Party has sparked a row about transparency in politics after placing out a video claiming the very first Black MPs have been elected 36 years in the past for the Labour Party.
A shiny video selling its ‘Bernie Grant Leadership Programme’ noticed Dawn Butler and shadow international secretary David Lammy reminiscing about Labour’s historical past of black parliamentary illustration.
However the accompanying tweet from the celebration saod: “It has been 36 years since the first Black MPs were elected”.
The declare shortly prompted keen-eyed history-loving customers to accuse the celebration of falling brief on their historic information.
According to data, the first-ever black MP was elected in 1767 – 220 years earlier than Labour’s declare.
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David Lammy fronts the video, which has been accused of erasing the historical past of British black MPs (Image: Labour Party)
James Townsend was a blended raced black British and white British man, who served as an MP between 1767 and 1767 earlier than dying in workplace.
While the now-defunct Whig celebration noticed the primary two BAME MPs elected, the Tories adopted shortly behind, seeing their first blended race MP Ralph Benson elected in 1812, adopted shortly after by John Stewart in 1832.
The tweet, which was posted on Sunday afternoon, has now seen a ‘context’ notice added to it – a brand new function launched on the platform by Elon Musk, permitting a neighborhood of accepted truth checkers to make clear inaccurate statements on tweets.
The context notice, which can have been seen by most of the tweet’s 658,000 viewers, now clarifies: “This tweet is incorrect”.
“The first black MP was elected in 1767. James Townsend, Whip MP for West Looe, was elected.”
It has been 36 years for the reason that first Black MPs have been elected.
Today we launch the Bernie Grant Leadership Programme, in reminiscence of Bernie Grant MP, who inspired a brand new era of Black Labour politicians.
Hear extra concerning the programme and apply right here: pic.twitter.com/GhstlRURA8
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) June 11, 2023
The notice cites an official report by the House of Commons Library, which says Mr Townsend “had a British grandfather who worked for the Royal African Company, a mercantile trading company that also traded enslaved people. His grandmother, a prominent businesswoman who also owned enslaved people, was of African and Dutch descent.
“Their daughter Bridget moved to England and had ten children, one of whom was James Townshend.”
A Twitter consumer joked: “Community notes killing Labour’s history revision”.
PPE lecturer Adrian Hilton mentioned: Black MPs did not start with Labour. The first have been: James Townsend (Whig, 1772) John Stewart (Tory, 1832) Henry Redhead Yorke (Whig, 1841) Peter McLagan (Liberal, 1865). Unless, in fact, Labour considers these to be someway the ‘wrong’ kind or solely ‘superficially black’”.
The tweet was additionally attacked for different causes, together with one consumer who says he was a part of the primary Bernie Grant management programme in 2019, “and as of now, none of that cohort have been selected as a Labour parliamentary candidate.
“Members of that cohort have even been blocked from standing…”
A 3rd consumer accused Labour of ‘erasing’ black historical past: “This type of factor is kind of odd”.
“There have been Black MPs for 240 years, why are they being erased?”
The Labour Party has been approached for comment by express.co.uk.
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