Black leadership in good shape

WHEN CHUKA Umunna declared on May 12 that he would stand to become the first black leader of any political party and potentially the first black British prime minister, countless thousands rejoiced. Not just here in the UK, but as word quickly spread to the USA, Europe and Africa, including Nigeria the country of Chuka’s father, black people fizzed with the excitement that great change was afoot.

Three days later that heady bubble of hope and change burst. As quickly as Chuka had thrown his hat in the ring he had taken it out, citing in his withdrawal letter the pressure of ‘scrutiny’ on those he cared about was all too much. We sympathised, but were still very disappointed.

The trouble with his reasoning is that he would have known about the media pressure he would face before he decided to run. It is not as though he was unaware of just how horrid certain sections of the British media could be. After all, he was part of Ed Miliband’s inner circle and would have witnessed first-hand the shameful cruelty to which some media had subjected him and his father. The Daily Mail, for instance, called his father who fought in the Second World War, a traitor for believing in socialism.

And, of course, we qualified our disappointment in Chuka’s withdrawal by stating that we would be there for him during this difficult time, sure that he will bounce back stronger.

But then two days after he had resigned something extraordinary occurred. As I was doing a round table discussion on Chuka’s withdrawal with the BBC’s Dotun Adebayo and a number of black experts including Kate Osamor, the newly elected MP for Edmonton, barrister Sophie Cannon and the young academic Adam Elliott-Cooper, I thought to myself that despite the Chuka disappointment, these three talented individuals are a symbol that black leadership is in good shape.

This, for example, had been Kate Osamor’s first week as an MP and here she was on the radio talking about how she had connected with the people of Edmonton to win that seat with a comfortable majority. What struck me powerfully was the refreshing fact that this woman had not arrived at Westminster as a political careerist, bag carrying for the party leadership before being parachuted in to fight a winnable seat. This was a talented woman who had learnt her politics from her mother Martha Osamor, who was part of the Black Sections movement in the 1980s and her own experience working on the front line in the NHS for more than 15 years.

The reason why I mention Kate Osamor, Sophie Cannon and Adam Elliott-Cooper is because black leadership and with it our hope that things can be much better does not reside in one person. There has to be many black individuals who will strive to become the very best they can so they can inspire and elevate our communities, whilst ensuring society sees the true potential with black people in the UK.

The sad truth is that even within the minority communities, those from African and Caribbean backgrounds have had to fight to be heard. For example, whilst we very much applauded the 15 new intake of black and minority ethnic MPs, the stark reality was that new Asian MPs outnumbered new African and Caribbean MPs by more than two to one. And it’s not as though there was a shortage of Africans and Caribbeans willing to stand. It was more to do with the political systems which hold back BAME communities, particularly African and Caribbean people.

In the weeks and months ahead we must redouble our efforts to become stronger, together. The potential is there which is why David Cameron beat a path to Pastor Agu Irukwu of the Redeemed Christian Church of God to speak directly to 40,000 Africans two weeks before the election. And as the demographics change the BAME vote, including the African and Caribbean vote, it will get larger and more important. So while it is true that for the country to have a black prime minister would be an important symbol of our progress, it is equally true that a community’s strength does not reside in one person but in many individuals playing their role to change our world.

In this last week alone it has been refreshing to see the many aspects of young black leadership. The challenge will be to ensure it works better together for our shared vision of race equality.

Simon Woolley, director of Operation Black Vote