Labour youth rep demands equality shake up

As the Labour Party embarks on its radical agenda to reorganise the workings of the party Jyoti Bhojani (pictured left) writes a timely and well argued piece over at LabourList about how the party can reconnect with Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities.

With an incisive argument that will upset some, she outlines that fact that the Labour Party used to have a vast majority of the BME voting public. That she points out this has gone, not least she argues, because the party had taken the BME vote for granted. Indeed, it is no surprise to OBV that it was the Tories that made the biggest breakthrough of any political party ever in regards to selecting BME candidates for winning seats. The 2010 General Election witnessed a net increase of 10 BME MP’s whilst Labour's net increase was a poultry one. The Lib Dems remained rooted at ground zero, once again presenting an all white party to the nation.

Bhojani, young, energetic and thoughtful, demands that the Party undertake a full internal audit to ascertain where the gaps are, and thereafter engage in a proactive recruitment drive to bring in new BME members. She also suggests that each local party must have its own BME officer in order to ensure progress is not superficial, and that individuals who join can effectively take part. All sensible ideas that if implemented will bring about positive change.

I wish Jyoti well, not from a party political point of view because that’s not the OBV way, but from a democratic stance that wants to see all our mainstream political party’s become more inclusive and representative.

Simon Woolley