Tooting by-election: Labour picks A&E doctor Rosena Allin-Khan as candidate

The marginal seat has been vacted by Labour’s new London Mayor Sadiq Khan

Tooting Broadway station (Wikimedia Commons)

Labour has chosen a junior A&E doctor as its candidate to fight a key parliamentary by-election in south London.

Rosena Allin-Khan will contest the marginal Tooting seat to replace Sadiq Khan, who stepped down as an MP after winning the Mayor of London election earlier this month.

The by-election will take place on 16 June, a week before the European Union referendum.

Dr Allin-Khan works at St George’s Hospital in the constituency, and was selected on Saturday afternoon after a hustings of local members.

The battle in the seat is far from a foregone conclusion, with Mr Khan having won the rapidly gentrifying area in 2015 by 47.2 per cent of the vote to 41.9 per cent.

Some of that support may have been down to Mr Khan’s personal popularity in the area, on account of him having been MP there since 2005.

New Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was the last MP for Tooting (Reuters)

Dr Allin-Khan told the Press Association that she was “very excited” to challenge for the seat.

Asked what she thought of the possibility of being challenged in the seat by former Labour MP George Galloway, Dr Allin-Khan said: “I have a lot of faith in my values as a Labour Party member. I believe in fairness, equality, social justice. These are the issues that I'm going to be standing for and that's what I'll say to you on that one”.

Commenting on her selection, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “Labour has selected a great candidate to fight the Tooting by-election”.

The Conservative candidate will be Dan Watkins, who is the Tories’ spokesperson for Tooting and who contested the seat at the last election.

In 2010 the Tories stood Mark Clarke in the seat, who was suspended from the party last year over bulling allegations related to activists in the party’s youth win, which he denies.

Mr Corbyn travelled to Tooting this afternoon to congratulate the medic on her victory.

The by-election gives the Conservatives a chance to increase their majority of 12 in Parliament, or Mr Corbyn to stamp his authority on his party with a strong victory.

Labour are likely narrow favourites to win the seat after Mr Khan’s overwhelmingly victory across inner London earlier this month.