An MP who secured their seat in Parliament with a majority of just 15 votes has hailed the power of “small margins” in his maiden speech in the House of Commons.
David Pinto-Duschinsky, the Labour member for Hendon, also spoke about his father Michael Pinto-Duschinsky, a Hungarian-British author, who narrowly avoided being sent to Auschwitz concentration camp as a child.
The Hendon seat was a gain from the Conservatives for Labour, with Mr Pinto-Duschinsky winning by just 15 votes, the smallest majority in any constituency.
The constituency had 3,038 votes for Reform UK and 2,667 votes for the Greens.
In his first speech in Parliament, Mr Pinto-Duschinsky said he didn’t need to “ponder long” to think of his lucky number.
He said: “My lucky number is 15. Why? Because 15 is the size of my majority.
“I have the honour of holding the smallest majority in parliament. It reminds me every day who sent me here, who I serve in this place, how grateful I am to the people who voted for me, and how life turns on the very smallest of margins.”
Mr Pinto-Duschinsky said small margins “run as a theme” in his family.
He said: “2024 is the 80th anniversary of my father being smuggled out of the Munkacs ghetto in what is today Ukraine.
“In April 1944, my infant father was herded along with the rest of the Jewish population of the town and surrounding countryside into the crowded, squalid ghetto.
“Thousands jammed in, into barely more than a handful of city blocks.
“But on the fifth of May 1944, a Christian woman pretending to be his mother spirited him out, just days before over 28,000 people, including unfortunately, many members of my own family, were put on trains to Auschwitz, never to return.
“Small margins. Small margins and the kindness of strangers. As a child refugee, he landed in London and was given greater opportunities by this great country.
“His story inspires me every day and reminds me of the importance of compassion, courage and the bonds that connect us all.”
Mr Pinto-Duschinsky was previously an adviser to the former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling and deputy director of the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit before becoming an MP.
The MP for Hendon praised the community in his constituency but highlighted the issues that he will seek to improve on.
He said: “But small margins are never far from the surface. Too many households in our community struggle to get by. Their ability to cope resting on the finest of margins, just one paycheck away from catastrophe.
“More than a third of children in Hendon are growing up poor after housing costs. In places like Colindale and Burnt Oak, the figure is significantly higher that must change.
“Tackling this unfairness and disadvantage is what motivates me to be here.”
