When will a black or asian prime minister finally lead england?
When will our politicians reflect our society? How many in the top posts have got their finger on the pulse of the streets?
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When will our politicians reflect our society? How many in the top posts have got their finger on the pulse of the streets?
Firstly, I want to point out that I don't think we need a politician from a ethinic minority in order for them to understand issues around race. In fact, a non-white politician would probably be just as out-of-touch as a white one.
Secondly, although we don't have many non-white politicians in high positions, we do have a surprisingly large number of black and asian back-bench MPs. I don't have exact figures, but I was going through a list a little while ago, and I was surprised to see the racial diversity (obviously this is not even close to equal to the diversity of the whole country, but it isn't so bad). Note than under a Labour or Lib Dem government, a cabinet would probably be more racially diverse.
It will be decades until we get a non-white PM, but I don't think it is a major issue. Margaret Thatcher got lots of votes just because she was a woman, and she drove the nation into the ground. The moral: voting for a "minority" for no other reason than that will not end well.
A lot of people voted for Obama for no other reason than because he was black, not white. A lot of people voted for Thatcher for no other reason than because she was a woman, not a man. There is no reason why a lot of people wouldn't vote for a non-white PM for no better reason than because he (or she) was black, on the same logic.