Black Labour MP says folks combine her up along with her colleagues ‘on a regular basis’
A Black female Labour MP has said people mix her and her colleagues up “all the time”.
Marsha de Cordova said it was “worrying” and “wrong” and that the treatment of Black women in Parliament is “not acceptable”. She told the Mirror’s YouTube show Party Games: “People mix myself and my colleagues up all the time. In fact, we have a bit of an inside joke and say ‘hi so-and-so’ and we absolutely know it’s not them.
“But I mean, it’s wrong. We know it’s wrong and people can just take a bit of care in terms of identifying who we all are. Just because some of us may have braids or twists, you should really be able to distinguish because I don’t look like my other colleagues. They are beautiful women. We all are but we don’t all look the same.”
Ms de Cordova said that side of politics is “quite worrying”, adding: “There are a number of us and I feel that it has been difficult. I mean previously we saw some of the awful racism that Diane Abbott has had to endure. You know, her being a trailblazer, the first black woman elected to Parliament in 1987, and yet in 2024, she’s still subjected to such horrific abuse.”
The MP for Battersea criticised Rishi Sunak for being slow to call out Tory donor Frank Hester who said looking at Diane Abbott made him want to “hate all Black women”. “I’ve previously raised the issue in Prime Minister’s Questions because it’s just not acceptable that we are treated this way,” she said.
Watch the Mirror’s new YouTube show Party Games as politicians spill secrets of being an MP
Join us for the Mirror’s new show Party Games as politicians spill the secrets of being an MP – while taking on the challenge of playing a well-known board game.
In the programme on the Mirror’s YouTube channel, familiar faces from across political spectrum will do battle with reporter Sophie Huskisson. At the same time they will face questions on who they are, what they stand for and why they became a politician.
In a relaxed tell-all chat over games including Kerplunk, Jenga and Snakes and Ladders, we hear about how they manage their work-life-balance, how they deal with social media trolls and about some of their worst and best times in Westminster.
Party Games is available now on the Mirror’s YouTube channel with new episodes every Monday at 6pm.
In the episode, Ms de Cordova, who is registered blind, also talks about her disability and how that poses challenges in Parliament. She also discusses her childhood and family life, as well as her love of watching her brother, footballer Bobby De Cordova-Reid, play in the Premier League.
The new episode of Party Games is available on the Mirror’s YouTube channel now.
