Ealing Southall by-election, 2007

The Ealing Southall by-election, 2007 was a by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Ealing Southall, in west London. It was held on 19 July 2007.

The election was triggered when Piara Khabra, the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Ealing Southall, died on 19 June 2007. Khabra had held the constituency since the 1992 election, while the Labour party has held the seat since its creation in the 1983 election, and the predecessor seat of Southall since it was created before the 1945 election.

The government moved the writ for the by-election in Parliament on 28 June 2007, the day after the funeral of Piara Khabra. This by-election and the Sedgefield by-election, also being held on 19 July, were significant because they were the first elections to take place during the tenure of the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

According to the Elections Office of Ealing Council, the electorate was 85,423 which represents an increase of 1,685 (2%) on the 2005 General Election.

Labour selected local councillor Virendra Sharma from a shortlist of two - with Jo Sidhu the other shortlisted candidate. As Khabra had previously announced his intention to stand down at the next UK general election, Labour had already decided on its selection rules and had chosen to have an all-women shortlist for the constituency at the next UK general election, but following Khabra's death, the Labour National Executive Committee decided the by-election selection would not be from an all-women shortlist. Following the selection, five Labour councillors defected to the Conservative Party.

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