The UK’s path to a potential ethnic minority prime minister

When Boris Johnson stepped forward on July 7 and announced his resignation, he also began the race to be the leader of the ‘Tory’ Party. And it is that whoever becomes the head of the Conservatives will become, by default, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Among the eight candidates who have achieved enough nominations to compete for the position, diversity is very present. Four are women and four did not attend elite universities – such as Oxford or Cambridge – the usual requirement for prime ministers. Four have ethnic minority ancestry.

One of them is the former chancellor – one of the favorites -, which raises the possibility that a party traditionally considered masculine, white and elitist could give rise to the first prime minister from an ethnic minority in the history of the United Kingdom. Rishi Sunak, a former economics minister, was born in Southampton, but his parents are Indians who emigrated from East Africa.

“We are entering an era where the migrant story is a central part of political history in every country in Western Europe,” says Rob Ford, Professor of Political Science at the University of Manchester and author of ‘Brexitland’. .

In Britain, the appointment of the first non-white prime minister “would be a symbolically powerful moment, and a very significant one in terms of how nations see themselves and are seen by others.”

Party image change

This diversity among candidates for Conservative leadership is the result of a concerted effort. In 2005, party leader and future Prime Minister David Cameron announced his intention to “change the face of the Conservative Party” by increasing the number of female MPs, the disabled and ethnic minorities.

“They were seen as an intolerant and divisive party,” says Ford. “The goal was to boost the appeal of the Conservatives among ethnic minority voters, but also among liberal white voters who see the party’s bigotry as a major barrier to voting.”

Cameron created a list of diverse candidates who ran for and won seats in Parliament. Since then, many of those deputies have come to work at the top of the Government. The Conservative Party went from having its first ethnic minority member in the Cabinet in 2014 to having the most ethnically diverse Cabinet in British history in 2021.

Although two-thirds of ethnic minority MPs belong to the Labor Party, the prominence of ethnic minority Conservatives has been instrumental in rebranding the party.

“It really is an example of the political choice of a leader from 16 years ago and that has been slow to bear fruit (…) But when the effect occurs, it is quite dramatic. Essentially, one in three deputies from ethnic minorities in the conservative caucus, he is presently presenting himself as a leader,” says Ford.

A “disservice” to equality

Beyond the party’s makeover, having such a diverse slate of leadership hopefuls brings real benefits. “A diverse slate is fundamentally important to retaining the best talent for any role,” says Halima Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust, a British think tank on race and minority issues.

“But it’s very different to have a diverse shortlist as to whether those candidates will do their best or their best on diversity issues,” Begum says.

The ‘Tory’ Party has already broken traditional barriers before: it had the only prime minister belonging to an ethnic minority, Benjamin Disraeli -of Jewish origin- and also the first woman to occupy the position, Margaret Thatcher.

However, in the eleven years she was in power, Thatcher did other women a disservice; she only appointed one woman in her cabinet claiming that no other was “good enough”.

A similar scenario, in which a leader of an ethnic minority does not grant greater access to other people from ethnic minorities, is foreseeable in 2022.

Attorney General and Conservative Leader candidate Suella Braverman has parents from Mauritania and Kenya, but has described herself as a “daughter of the British Empire”. The former lawyer herself has already promised that, if she is voted in as leader, she will wage a “war against the wokism –term originating in the United States, which initially referred to awareness of racism–“and will safeguard the government’s controversial plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, even if it means Britain is kicked out of the European Court of Human Rights.

In 2021, fellow candidate and former Equality Minister Kemi Badenoch oversaw a controversial report by the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparities which stated that “very few” inequalities in British society were “directly related to racism”. She has promised to fight identity politics if she comes to power.

“It does a disservice to equality by saying that once our prime minister is diverse, we are post-racial. Our hope is to see a set of policies that actually promote more inclusion and diversity. And what would be incredibly disappointing is if any of those candidates end up promoting policies that are actively harmful to minorities,” Begum stresses.

A significant advance

The new UK Prime Minister will be announced on September 5. If Sunak wins the race for leadership, he will become the second non-white leader in a Western European country, following Ireland’s former Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who is of Indian descent.

This would be remarkable, symbolically speaking. It would also be significant for the UK’s own minority ethnic communities.

“It’s not a panacea for the structural disadvantages those groups face, but it does say something about acceptance. Being absent from those high tables is something that is bitterly felt, so removing that absence is a significant advance.” Ford argues.

However, the contest for the Conservative leadership takes place in an exceptionally difficult context. They need to rebuild trust in the government after the string of controversies and spiral of unpopularity that fell on Johnson in his last months in power. And there are no easy solutions to the cost of living crisis, the current divisions over Brexit or the complex trade negotiations in Northern Ireland.

“The ethnicity of our next prime minister is, in many ways, secondary; what matters most is that the nation’s next leader does the best he can for the country. The Conservatives have historically been good at creating opportunities for top talent and In this case, the future premier’s job is to keep the Conservatives in power. It doesn’t matter what ethnicity they have,” Begum said.

And there are signs that the majority of the British population agrees with this statement. A survey conducted by the think tank ‘British Future’ in 2022 revealed that 84% of Britons would be comfortable with a prime minister from an ethnic minority. Around three-quarters said they saw ethnic diversity as part of British culture, a change from 2011, when more than half saw ethnic diversity as a threat.

Whoever he or she is premiere come September, one of the most notable aspects could be that ethnicity is no longer a defining factor – or differentiator – for political leaders vying for the highest office.

“I doubt there will be much mention of their heritage or ethnicity, unless they decide to mention it in the campaign. It’s very significant that we may be getting to a point where, for a lot of people, ethnicity just doesn’t enter their heads as a factor.” Ford concludes.

*Adapted from its original English version