Stop playing political football with black and ethnic minorities

When I read that the ethnic minority vote may hold the key for the 2015 elections, I was delighted. For too long, these votes have been taken as given by all political parties especially Labour.

A study carried out by cross-party organisation Operation Black Vote showed the number of black and minority ethnic (BME) voters had grown by 70% since the last election. Using the 2011 census, it calculated that in England and Wales there are168 seats where the black and ethnic minority population holds greater sway than the majority.

It is a significant number that means that not only is the BME vote increasing but with this growth comes a variance in voting patterns. A growing class of educated, affluent British Asians has grown up over the past decade who are concerned about the community they live in and the current political climate.

The Tory strategy to attract white working and lower middle-class voters by employing methods such as the "Go home" vans has isolated BME voters. I know from talking to many within my community that the move was met with frustration and disdain. It was seen as a clear, cheap and nasty attempt to appease white working-class voters and to prevent Ukip from gaining more support.

These are shallow, thoughtless tactics that marginalised BME communities.

Unsurprisingly, this news probably didn't go down well within the Conservative party, which secured just 16% of the BME vote in the last election compared with 68% for Labour. But how can the mainstream parties harness the BME vote?

First, they can follow the example set by the Respect party in the lead-up to the Bradford West byelection. Party campaigners took to the streets of Bradford, galvanising the youth and women to the polling stations. They promised an end to Biraadri politics (akin to block vote of the unions), which was rife in Bradford. So complacent and self assured was the Labour party that its candidate did not feel the need to attend the public hustings. As expected, this did not go down well with the constituents of Bradford West.

Respect recruited Asian women, targeted community centres, visited homes, sent campaigners who spoke Punjabi and Urdu and most importantly asked the constituents what they wanted from their representatives. This one-to-one strategy empowered a sector of the community that had for too long been marginalised and disenfranchised. Up until then, the men of the house decided which party the family as a collective would vote for. The women of Bradford seized this opportunity and quickly spread the word that there was finally a party that appreciated their involvement.

Such was this appreciation that it was reported that it was the women of Bradford West who won the byelection for George Galloway. Sadly he quickly lost that support but the message was clear, Asian women relished the opportunity to take part in politics.

Let this serve as a lesson to mainstream parties: you can win the votes of the Asian women by engaging them in dialogue, by addressing their concerns and assuring them that their voices are valuable. And by Asian women I mean ALL Asian women, those who are educated, uneducated, those who work and those who are stay-at-home mums and carers.

Secondly, mainstream parties need to engage BME youth, many of whom worry about rising tuition fees, lack of employment opportunities, the glass ceilings they will encounter because of their backgrounds, racism and the discrimination they face.

I know from my own experience growing up with limited Asian role models, I was told many a time that I faced a tough road ahead not just because I was a British Pakistani female but also because I wore a head scarf. It is stereotypes and mentalities like this that parties have to address if they want to secure the minority vote. Muslim youth in particular feel marginalised due to the rampant islamophobic discourse evident in mainstream media and the public arena. This needs to be tackled in order for young people to feel confident that their concerns are heard and that their community is not scapegoated.

For our society to be truly democratic and representative it needs to reflect the diversity of our communities. Parties need to engage with the BME community in order to demonstrate that their voices are valuable and that they have a significant contribution to offer.

The Asian community in UK has a vast number of successful entrepreneurs who play a significant positive role in the UK economy.It is now clear that their way of creating wealth and employment is being appreciated by mainstream business and government to create global networks in the growing economies of the east and away from recession-ridden Europe
Why is the same success not being achieved in the political and public arena?

Playing political football with these communities is a foolish and unwise strategy, as the Labour party had to learn the hard way in the Bradford West by election.

There is a growing interest in politics within the BME communities, it is time to respect and engage with them in the most effective manner possible so our multicultural society can take the most benefits from their respective contributions.

Sabbiyah Pervez

Original article was in the Guardian on the 23rd Aug