We, the members of the Black and Asian minorities have a very important responsibility to ensure that we discharge our franchise diligently and make our substantial contribution in the well being of the country. We have contributed in various ways in establishing the British Empire as well as transforming Great Britain to the economic power that it is, in the last two hundred odd years. Now some 5 million Britons of Asian and Black parentage, we carry the same if not more onerous responsibility to maintain our tradition of contributing our utmost to Great Britain.
Before I look back at the results of 2010 general elections I would like to make a plea to all our readers and urge them to ensure that they vote without fail in the general election. Let the message go to each and every member of our communities that our vote is very crucial, perhaps more so now than ever before in the British Parliamentary elections. Have you checked whether your name is registered in the voters list? If not, don’t delay and do it today. Please inform all those relations, friends and other acquaintances to do likewise. For those who are unable to vote due to any ill health or other disabilities there is a postal vote facility for each voter. The system is straightforward. If you are not too sure ask your local councillor, agent of any political party or a leading member of your community organisation. Vote you must on the 7th May 2015. Which party is entirely your choice but, at the cost of repeating myself, to exercise our franchise is a very valuable right and people have sacrificed their freedom (gone into prisons) and even laid down their lives for this fundamental right. Thank God we live in a democracy. Think of all those who haven’t got a vote or could not participate in a free and fair election. We are very fortunate indeed to be able to discharge our duty or civic responsibility without hinderance.
2010 elections at a glance
In the 2010 General Election there were 18 South Asians representing the Conservative and Labour parties in the House of Commons. This was a substantial increase from the previous House of Commons. This year there are substantially more Asian Prospective Parliamentary candidates - 18 Asians representing the Conservatives, 26 representing Labour and 12 representing the Liberal Democrats. Some of the Asian candidates are likely to be elected.
In 2010 the Black and Minority candidates were in the record numbers. There were several firsts also. Shabana Mahmood became the first Muslim woman to be elected in Birmingham Ladywood whilst Helen Grant was the first Black woman to represent the Conservatives in Westminster. Labours Chi Onwurah was the first African woman to win a parliamentary seat in Newcastle Central and Priti Patel became the Tory’s first Asian female candidate winning Witham in Essex. It was also interesting to note that in the election of 2010 the link between constituencies with high proportions of minority voters and long standing Black and Asian MPs remained firm in many places. In Birmingham Ladywood were 27 year old Shabana Mahmood held on to Claire Shorts’ former stronghold, the Black (Pakistani) vote was regarded as a crucial winning factor.
Several seats until then had been regarded as safe and yet provided nerve racking counts for several minority MPs. This included South London, were former Transport Minister Sadiq Khan saw his majority cut by more than half. In nearby Brixton, there were jubilant cries of ‘yes we Khan’ when the result was announced but the bar that had been hired out by supporters of the new Streatham candidate for Labour, Chukka Umunna, hummed nervously amid anxiety about the well funded campaign of Liberal Democrat candidate Chris Nicholson.
While Umunna’s and Khan’s efforts paid off, the Black Labour MP, Don Butler was unseated in the new North London seat of Brent Central by Liberal Democrat Sarah Teather. Supporters had admitted that Butler’s campaign suffered from a lack of dynamism and a shortage of volunteers. It is important to recollect Salma Yaqoob would have been the first hijab-wearing MP. Her defeat by Labour, in Birmingham Hall Green, is one of the most high profile minority failures.
The Liberal Democrats were the only main party with no minority MP. Lets see what will be happening now.
In Asian Voice this week we have listed the South Asian MPs in the Commons now and the Prospective Parliamentary Candidates from the three main parties. It appears that in spite of the larger presence of people of Indian origin in Britain, the political participation and success of those from Pakistan or Bangladesh is substantial. There is no excuse for the lack of effective Indian inputs in British politics. Maybe there are many South Asian candidates. Maybe some of them are elected but the election is still some three months away and as Harold Wilson said some fifty years ago ‘a week is a long time in politics’.
Elections in India
Let’s now take a pause and look at what is happening in India today - 7th February. The 70 seats of the Delhi State Assembly are up for grabs. Ten days ago when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced the former (first Indian woman) IPS officer as the Chief Ministerial candidate it was described as ‘a master stroke’. On 2nd February the BJP cannot be so sure. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who won the 16th General Election so spectacularly last May and won several States hands down for his party in the last few months, is working very hard to say the least to repeat his winning formula in Delhi. Maybe he can but the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is really fighting very well. It looks like a fight between David and Goliath but there is no certainty that David will win. Next week we will know the result. If the BJP win, it will be another shot in the arm of Narendra Modi. If Arvind Karjariwal becomes once again the Chief Minister of Delhi State, it maybe a boon in democratic India. Such an eventuality i.e. defeat of the BJP in Delhi could, in its own way, make the Modi government more focused and the Indian voters justifiably more demanding and confident.
More to follow next week.
