Where’s the Black solidarity amongst Labour BME MPs?

It’s not a situation that comes up very often. The possibility of a Black or minority ethnic MP, taking one of the top political jobs in Europe, as Mayor for London.  Furthermore, it’s not as though they are short of talent to choose from within the Labour party:  veteran MP Diane Abbott, former Minister David Lammy MP, the UK’s first Muslim cabinet member Sadiq Khan.

And yet the notion of Black solidarity for too many Black MP’s is utterly depressing.  Yesterday, former Labour leader front runner Chuka Umunna MP has publically declared, with some fanfare, that he’s throwing his weight behind Tessa Jowell.

In a letter to party activists he states:

“I’m not just giving Tessa my vote, I’m excited to be campaigning with her and giving her every bit of my support. She can do great things if we get behind her and that’s exactly what I intend to do by playing a full role in her campaign.

I've nothing against Tessa Jowell; she’s had a good political career and was a good ambassador for the Olympic Games. But is Umunna stating that of the three BME candidates, not one is up for the task? Maybe he just feels that Jowell is so much better than the rest?

It is somewhat ironic, because when Umunna stood for the Labour leadership it was BME groups such as OBV who got behind his campaign, first and foremost because we know he has the credentials to be a good leader, but we also recognised the fantastic importance to British society of the possibility of selecting a young party leader from a mixed heritage background.

BME communities have always tried to show support for our BME MP’s, but too many of our MP’s are not demonstrating the same commitment that we deserve in return.  This lack of Labour BME MP solidarity has also meant that Bethnal Green MP, Rushanara Ali, never made it onto the Deputy Leader list, which, as a result is all-white.

Our BME politicians should look back to recent history and take a leaf out of Labour women’s handbook, such as those from ‘Emily’s list’. These were a group of women MP’s, peers and friends who dedicated much of their political lives to support and promote other women. Their greatest legacy along with other gender campaigners was to ensure that Labour adopted ‘All women shortlists’, which now guarantee talented women can stand and win elections

If BME politicians are asking our communities for support and to fight for them when they are themselves faced with inequality, then surely they must find greater solidarity amongst themselves.

We don’t live in a post-racial world, not now or anytime soon.  Our BME MP’s know that. Together we must find ways of supporting our talent and demonstrating much greater unity than what is offered at the moment.

Simon Woolley