The Black vote is a Golden vote. Don't waste it!

A golden vote has a significance way beyond its individual vote. When cast a golden vote becomes a deciding factor whether or not a candidate wins or loses. Ultimately, the golden vote decides who walks through the 10 Downing St. door when all the votes are counted on May 7th and 8th.

The Black and minority ethnic vote is that Golden vote.

The BME vote has become part of that crucial deciding vote because of two key factors: first and foremost; our numbers are huge particularly in many marginal seats including in and around London, the home counties, the Midlands and the Northwest; secondly, and equally important has been the response to OBV’s three month voter registration campaign which was launched at Westminster University with Rev Al Sharpton and took to the streets via the OBV eXpress, to target a million people.

In the end the OBV eXpress and high profile ad campaign from Saatchi & Saatchi, which featured film & television, music and sports stars helped ensure that many of hundreds of thousands who registered in the final weeks were from BME communities.

Key figures who have acknowledged our massive contribution in getting many thousands registered include Chair of the Electoral Commission, Jenny Watson who said:

Working in partnership with organisations like Operation Black Vote as part of our registration campaign before the elections on 7 May was fantastic, including the OBV bus and the poster campaign, and something we want to build on for the future.

After 3 months intense campaigning our 2015 election project is closing with OBV’s biggest ever billboard campaign on more than 120 billboards in 50 areas across the UK with the message:

The Black and Asian vote in this constituency can decide who wins and who loses.”

During these months on the road, we’ve told anyone who will listen, that our election campaign has been about challenging not maintaining the status quo, whoever is in power. It’s always been about reclaiming democracy, reforming it, making sure it works better for us, tackling for example persistent race inequality.

And make no mistake even deep political cynics such as the comedian Russell Brand have now concluded you have to participate to change it. That’s politics.

Our last message to you before polling day is that you redouble your efforts and ensure you tell your friends, neighbours, cousins, uncles and aunties not to waste the Golden vote: The Black vote.

And together we will deliver an agenda for tackling race inequality whoever is in power, now, tomorrow and for a long time to come.

One other thing, please take your children to vote with you on Thursday. Make it a family affair.

Simon Woolley