Increased voter turnout from BME Brits

Despite one of the fiercest fought political battles in a generation, turnout remained broadly flat at 65%, exactly where it was in 2010. 

However,  our initial analysis  indicates that during this election, just as in 2010,  the Black and minority ethnic vote  turned out  in increased numbers, bucking the national trend. 

This increase in numbers can be explained in no small measure due to  OBV’s voter registration campaign which saw our eXpress bus criss cross the country, and the much publicised poster campaign created by Saatchi & Saatchi featuring black personalities fronted by David Harewood and Sol Campbell ‘whiting up’ .

The most diverse constituency in the UK, East Ham, saw a five per cent increase while there were other increases in turnouts in Brent North, from 62% in 2010 to 63.5% ; Ealing North , 65.7% against 63% in 2010 and in Birmingham Ladywood from 48% five years ago to 52.7% in 2015.

Tracking the route of the registration bus is telling. The turnout in Liverpool Riverside rose from 52% in 2010 to 62.4%; there was a 7% rise in Manchester Gorton, a 5% increase in Manchester Central, and notable increases in two constituencies in Nottingham where the bus spent two days, and similar rises in Croydon Central and Croydon North.

In some key marginals where the BME community is larger than the sitting MP's majority, some stunning results reinforce the emergent power of the black vote.

Take the defeat by 422 votes of Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls in Morley and Outwood where voter turnout increased by 2.5%.  And Liberal Democrat rising star Lynn Featherstone lost Hornsey and Wood Green where there was a 3% increase in voter numbers.  

In Ealing Central & Acton, where the turnout increased from 58.9% in 2010 to 63.9%, Conservative candidate Angie Bray lost by 536 votes to Labour’s Dr Rupa Haq.

What this tells us is that where you have a focused campaign that speaks to people’s concerns, voter turnout will increase. OBV's pioneering work has once again sent a clear and unequivocal message to all political parties: “the time when our votes can be taken for granted or ignored are over.” The Black vote is not an homogenous block and this election clearly proves that.

By 2020 our political power will have increased significantly, particularly if the much needed constitutional reform includes giving the vote to 16-year olds.

What is beyond doubt is that the power of the black vote is now a permanent feature of the British political landscape, and has to be taken seriously by any party wanting to win a general election.

Lee Jasper