A fighting chance

The government must not lose its nerve regarding introducing the right for political parties to use "all-black and minority ethnic" shortlists. The vast majority of critics - including Sunny Hundal and Sunder Katwala - to the proposal won't care why it should be implemented, and have little or no alternative solutions to the problem.

But let's start with the basic problem: an unrepresentative House of Commons. There are 15 black and minority ethnic (BME) MPs in Westminster - another 45 would be more representative. At the present rate of new BME MPs coming to Westminster - three new MPs every term - our seat of governance would not be representative for another 75 years. And although this forthcoming election may produce more than average - as in 1987 when Diane Abbott, Keith Vaz, Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant were elected - a significant increase election after election may never transpire.

Apathy over the slow increase in BME politicians could be due to many people's misunderstanding of what Barack Obama stands for. Just because he doesn't talk about America's race inequality in every speech doesn't mean he has adopted a colour-blind approach to politics, deluding himself that the problem has somehow gone away. Obama's brilliance has been his moving narrative, which seeks to address inequalities, including race and class, and reconcile differences. The colour-blind, as Katwala suggests in his New Statesman articles, cannot begin to tackle race inequality.

The main objection that critics have to using "all BME" shortlists is that it will ghettoise politicians and BME areas. But that already happens, and it shouldn't necessarily be a problem. When a seat becomes available in an area such as Brent, Hackney, Birmingham or East Ham, BME candidates feel that it's their best hope of becoming an MP. Many, for example, will come from that locality, and therefore have local support. Others may feel they at least have a fighting chance of being selected. But all too often the one white candidate wins.

It may be that they are the best candidate, but my experience working with candidates and all the mainstream political parties in the last 13 years informs me that there is still a race penalty for would-be BME politicians. Sajjad Karim MEP, until recently the only Lib Dem BME elected politician outside a local authority, informed me that he felt hounded out of his party because of his race. "I couldn't take any more," he told me. "Unless the leadership confront the bigots in the party, you just get worn out." Another candidate told me that during her interview she mentioned she was a regular church-goer and was asked: "You're not from that happy-clappy church down the road are you?" In another shocking instance a local senior member of a party informed me that a young ambitious Muslim in his party was "useful", because he introduced them to many other Muslims. But he added "he would never be selected because he was 'lazy and some members of the party think he's got links to al-Qaida'."

The political thinking towards inclusive and representative parties has made great progress over the last 10 years. Working closely with the parties, our organisation, Operation Black Vote, has helped nurture a steady stream of BME politicians, including Dawn Butler, Sadiq Khan, and David Lammy. A new generation are on the threshold of public office, such as Chuka Umunna, Helen Grant and Marie Rees, the latter two having benefited from our MP-shadowing schemes. And yet, in spite of the progress, we still need a change in the law to allow political parties to use an "all BME" shortlist. It would help consolidate and build upon the present progress. The Conservative party is not likely to take up the option, but it would feel renewed pressure to find their own mechanisms if the other parties made significant progress.

Rest assured there will still be the Parmit Dhandas fighting for seats all over the country. The goal is not to produce a Barack Obama, but Barack Obamas, male and female. Some will present themselves as politicians who just happen to be black, others will be black individuals who just happen to be politicians. That is their choice.

I strongly believe we can achieve a dynamic and representative democracy, to the benefit of the whole nation. But to do so, we need bold leadership that is ready to circumvent the discriminatory barriers, while ensuring those barriers are dismantled. Time-limited "all BME" shortlists will help us achieve that goal.