BIRMINGHAM: Alex Yip, Birmingham’s first and only councillor of Chinese origin, is a rising star in British politics. Articulate, intelligent, smart and ambitious that he is, I caught up with him to find out more.
Cllr Yip represents Sutton New Hall for the Conservatives. Elected in May this year at the age of 32, his aim is to inspire, promote peace and harmony among all, be a bridge between diverse communities, be an effective voice for his constituents and to add even greater value to our nation’s second city.
“In a few short years there will be nothing that will remain of us, except for the legacy of our actions,” he said. When asked what he hopes to leave behind, “something meaningful and to have made a difference.”
Cllr Yip is also the Birmingham Conservatives’ first ethnic minority councillor. Previously the group had been criticised for being too white and too middle aged to represent Birmingham, the youngest city in Europe with under-25s accounting for nearly 40% of its just over 1 million population.
Born in Solihull, Cllr Yip attended King Edwards Camp Hill then moved on to Leicester University where he studied for a Masters in International Relations before becoming a self-employed businessman. His parents moved to England from Hong Kong in the early 70s.
A former school governor at Kingsbury School and Sports College, Cllr Yip, who is one of two siblings, is also a magistrate. He is also vice-chairman of the British Chinese Project, a
non partisan group designed to encourage and promote the participation, education, representation and integration of the British Chinese into British politics.
He has also been instrumental in his moral and lingual support, along with other community leaders, to the family of sisters Lily and Shelley, aged 7 and 6, respectively, who were killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident in June this year. The crash left their mum fighting for her life and their brother Edwin, 13, and sister Catherine, 12, injured.
Cllr Yip told me how he is mildly dyslexic, and also how he suffered from depression a few years back. “While travelling I saw great poverty in Ghana and Zambia and in remote areas of China where the injustice was achingly saddening. But there was also great joy and freedom in their lives, with nothing, and with little hope for the future. I was very humbled by that.”
He explained: “It took the support of generous and compassionate friends to bring me around from the brink, to see that beauty in the world in them and their kindness. There needs to be more support for organisations such as Papyrus in Birmingham to combat the tragic loss of young adults through suicide, which affects far more people than we realise.”
Papyrus, a national charity, exists to give young people hope and to prevent young suicide. Every year over 1,600 young people take their own lives in the UK.
An optimist with a natural charm and an excellent communicator, Cllr Yip, who lives in Walmley, Sutton Coldfield, is a gentleman who can really help improve life and the environment. Well, he certainly comes across this way. He told me how he has a strong belief: “that we all have literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something with our lives. If there is something that inspires us that can inspire someone else, and if a few like-minded people can come together for a cause that is greater than us, then mountains can be moved”.
One-third (33%) of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME) voters supported the Conservatives
in this year’s General Elections. Based on an estimated 3 million BAME voters who took part in the election, the Conservatives secured one million BAME votes for the first time in the party’s history. The Local Government Association (LGA) were unable to provide latest figures on the total number of councillors of British Chinese origin in England.
