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True to his word Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivered a very diverse Cabinet. In fact, it’s the most diverse Cabinet in British history. The stand-out appointment is the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid. The man who will be in charge of the nation’s purse strings, managing a 400 billion pounds budget, becomes the second most important man in British politics. It’s an impressive journey for the son of a bus driver.

To our applicants. Thank you for the time you have taken to apply and send in your applications to our programme. We are thrilled by the number of responses we have received. It has exceeded our best expectations. – More than 300 applied. However, due to the sheer number of applications we are still in the process of choosing individuals for interviews.

Just before the PM handed over the keys to No10 to Boris Johnson I had my last meeting with her. It was a time for reflection on the positive work we had achieved together.

Sheun was one of the first people called to interview for the 2019 Parliamentary shadowing programme, and we were swept up in her energy, passion and belief as soon as she opened her mouth.  She has been paired with Kwasi Kwarteng MP for Spelthorne on the 2019 programme.  As she describes in her own inimitable and unique style, she has already hit the ground running on the programme as an ambassador and as a leader...

It was a beautiful afternoon.

I was working from home and had a late workout session.

You have to go back more than 150 years to find a more racist American president than Donald Trump. In 1865 President Andrew Johnson, assumed the presidency because Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, said about African Americans that “they were incapable of self- Government and relapsed into barbarism if they weren’t closely supervised."

I’m never quite sure as to the exact time we launched OBV at the House of Commons 23 years ago today. Probably about now, 11AM UK time. Even back then we were media savvy, thinking about how we’d get onto the lunchtime news.

23 years later, I guess we’ve become a bit of an institution, even with our small staff contingent. Nevertheless our goals whether, empowering communities, nurturing talent or transforming political and civic institutions haven’t changed one iota. They’re big!

This year was a big year for the Transatlantic Inclusive Leaders Network (TILN) , now in its eighth year of nurturing political talent from diverse backgrounds from the USA, and right across Europe.

Operation Black Vote, in partnership with the University of Oxford’s Magdalen College and Blavatnik School of Government, Lloyds Bank, and the House of Commons is thrilled to open the recruitment for the second year our Pathway to Success 5-day residential Leadership Programme at the University of Oxford; to nurture the country’s future Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) leaders. The participants will engage with some of the greatest minds and expertise in political and civic governance in the UK.

I’ve known Anna Rothery for nearly 20 years. She participated on one of our early MP Shadowing schemes. Even back then she demonstrated the type of integrity and tenacity for social and racial justice that would make her into the formidable public servant and equality campaigner.

Anna has been Cllr for Princes Park ward Liverpoolfor 15 years and is currently Mayoral Lead for Equality and race.

A firm supporter of Jeremy Corbyn after he endorsed and launched the black manifesto akin with Diane Abbot 2012.