Robin's Blog - The General Election 2010: Threat or Opportunity?

The implications of the general election results are the subject of keen conjecture in the media and for all of us on the morning after the return of a hung parliament. For me the key question is "What does this mean for our politically marginalised Diaspora communities of African, Asian and Caribbean origin?"

My view is that this is a potentially pivotal moment in the political history of our country, and we in our various Black British communities must now build on the foundations laid by Simon Woolley's OBV (and others) and ensure that we fully grasp what could be a major opportunity to make our views and concerns known where it counts. What is clear is that when political parties have a large majority, they can afford to, and invariably do, ignore minority interests. Thirteen years of Labour government have failed to deliver the breakthroughs that many of us anticipated. David Cameron has made some progress in diversifying the Tory parliamentary candidate list, but that party's commitment to race equality remains patchy and untested, and the disappointing performance of the Lib Dems on this front leaves them open to serious challenge.

What is likely in the short term is that there will be some serious horse-trading in the background before the next government emerges, and it is also possible that the new government will be based on a fairly flimsy majority that might not survive for long. The price of Lib Dem support for either of the other two parties will be a commitment to electoral reform, and if the result of a referendum is proportional representation, that would be an excellent outcome for us as Black Britons. For me, PR holds the promise of a parliament that looks much more like Modern Britain - we know for example, that to properly reflect our communities there should be 70 or more Black MPs rather than the 15 in the outgoing House of Commons.

To make the most of this rare opportunity we must be ready, with a plan, to make the best of it. That means working together as individuals and organisations to campaign for a reform that could see our communities properly represented in parliament and the rest of civic society. We in the NBP will play our part.