European Elections: Verge of political history

At last week’s General Election Summit organised by Operation Black Vote, a range of organisations gathered from across the country to begin the 2015 General Election strategy to address the Black Minority Ethnic (BME) democratic deficit and to ensure that race equality is put firmly back on the agenda.

Although the impacts of racial inequality are widespread and devastating, there was much to be positive about as OBV’s research revealed that in over 25% of parliamentary seats, BME communities could play a critical role, if we positively engage.

There is also much to be positive about in the forthcoming European Elections where BME politicians could make UK and European political history. There is a significant prospect that the European Parliament will see close to a doubling in the number of BME UK representatives after the upcoming election in 2014.

Currently, 4 out of the 73 UK members of the European Parliament are BME, and there is a potential for this number to nearly double to 7. In other words, BME politicians may hold 10% of the European Parliament seats allocated to the UK, instead of the current 5%. There are a total of 24 BME candidates who are standing for European office including the four current MEPs. These four BME MEPs have already paved the way.

Sajjad Karim, from the North West region, was the first UK Muslim elected to the European Parliament in 2004 and was recently appointed Chair of the Watchdog into MEPs’ behaviour. Claude Moraes and Syed Kamall, representing London, have both risen to high positions of power within the European Parliament as Labour Deputy Leader and Conservative Leader of their European parties, respectively. MEP Nirj Deva, of the Southeast region, is currently vice-chair of the Committee of the Development and member on several others.

In addition to the incumbent MEPs above, there are an additional three BME European Parliament candidates who are ranked in the top two for their respective regions. In the 2009 European Election, over 90% of those who won a seat had been ranked in the top two by their party for their respective regions, therefore these three candidates have the potential to increase this voice.

They are Neena Gill, former MEP for the West Midlands, Afzal Khan, former Lord Mayor of Manchester, who will be standing in the Northwest region, where Nick Griffin MEP currently sits, and Issan Ghazni in the East Midlands region.

These candidates have the potential to make a significant impact to the levels of representation in the European Parliament with the potential for UK MEPs to comprise 1/3 of all the BME MEPs in Europe. However, this important change can only happen if they are elected, so make sure you register to vote and vote in May!

Belinda Schwarz