[2] 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,[3] but following Khabra's death, the Labour National Executive Committee decided the by-election selection would not be from an all-women shortlist.

The Independent also claimed the party regarded the Ealing Southall election as winnable, and were focussing resources on the seat, in preference to the Sedgefield by-election, to be held the same day.

[8] The deputy chair of the local Conservatives, Brij Mohan Gupta, resigned from the party in protest at Lit's selection and endorsed Quentin Davies' criticisms of David Cameron's policies, joining instead the Liberal Democrats.

John Cartwright ran for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, having stood repeatedly in Croydon Central and also at the 2006 Bromley and Chislehurst by-election.

[4] On 18 July 2007, the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation after receiving a complaint in writing from Labour's election agent Ken Clarke.

It related to a The Daily Telegraph website blog entry, posted on 17 July, which claimed to show the results of the postal voting ahead of the ballot.

In response, a spokesman for the Conservative Party said: "Our agent in Ealing Southall hasn't published any such information or spoken to the Daily Telegraph."