The largest number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) MPs has been elected this general election, making it the most diverse Parliament to date. There is a surge in the BAME MPs winning the vote rising from 8 per cent to 10 per cent since the last election, with a total of 65 BAME MPs as opposed to last time's 52, including 36 of Asian origin with 9 new MPs.
Thinktank British Future believes that the 2019 general election has produced the most diverse parliament ever, with one in every 10 MPs now from an ethnic minority background. It believes that a decade ago there was only 1 BAME MP out of the 40. They comprise 22 BAME MPs from Conservatives, 41 from Labour, and 2 from Liberal Democrats. More than 20% of Labour MPs are now from ethnic minorities, compared with 6% of Conservatives in the new House of Commons. Yet, it must be noted that there are, no non-white representatives in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Four new Indian origin MPs
Now, Britain has gained four new Indian-origin MPs viz. Labour’s Navendu Mishra (Stockport), Conservative’s Gagan Mohindra (South west Hertfordshire) and Goan-origin Claire Coutinho (East Surrey) and Lib Dem’s Munira Wilson (Twickenham). This means that there are now a total of 15 MPs of Indian-origin in this country. They will now accompany the existing 11 Indian-origin MPs . Names include: Priti Patel (Witham), Alok Sharma (Reading West), Shailesh Vara (North West Cambridgeshire), Valerie Vaz (Walsall), Virendra Sharma (Ealing Southall), Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston), Rishi Sunak (Richmond), Lisa Nandy (Wigan), Suella Braverman (Fareham), Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) and Preet Kaur Gill (Birmingham Edgbaston), who have retained their seats this general election.
Labour limps to Leicester East despite Vaz
Leicester East’s Keith Vaz, UK’s longest serving Indian MP did not stand in this election, after 32 years as an MP. He was replaced by Claudia Webbe. Webbe managed to secure the seat with 25,090 votes as opposed Conservatives' Bhupen Dave who chased her with 19,071 votes. Although, Labour has secured a majority of just over 6,000 votes, since 2017 it has seen a massive decrease of 16.2% vote share with Conservatives gaining over 14% of this vote.
Blackman surges in Harrow East with an increased majority
Bob Blackman, the incumbent for the Conservative Party has won his fourth election in a row for the Harrow East seat. Despite being in one of the few Tory marginal seats in London after his margin narrowed to around 1,757 votes in 2017, Blackman managed to increase his lead to 8,170 votes. Labour's Kashmir resolution seems to have divided the community more than anticipated as Blackman who has actively campaigned for the rights of the Kashmiri Pandits has surged ahead.
Barry continues to carry-on in Brent North
However, Labour's Barry Gardiner retains his seat in Brent North defeating Conservatives' Anjana Patel with a majority of 8,000 votes.
Labour's Sharma retains Ealing Southall
Virendra Sharma holds on to his constituency in Ealing Southall. He has been re-elected as the MP for Ealing Southall, with a decreased majority. The Labour candidate beat Conservative Tom Bennett by 16,084 votes, 6,006 votes less than the majority at the 2017 election.
Malhotra holds ground in Feltham and Heston with a reduced majority
Seema Malhotra has been re-elected as the MP for Feltham & Heston, with a decreased majority. The Labour candidate beat Conservative Jane Keep by 7,859 votes, 7,744 votes less than the majority at the 2017 election. Voter turnout was down by 5.8 percentage points since the last general election.
Labour holds Bedford only by 145 votes
Mohammad Yasin has been re-elected as the town's Labour MP but with a decreased majority. Yasin received 20,491 votes while the Conservative candidate Ryan Henson had 20,346 votes cast for him.
Other South Asian MPs from Labour and Conservatives
Some of the new South Asian MPs from Labour Party include- Mohammad Yasin (Bedford), Tahir Ali (Birmingham Hall Green) andApsana Begum (Poplar & Limehouse). Others include Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green & Bow), Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham Ladywood), Khalid Mahmood (Birmingham Perry Barr), Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East), Imran Hussain (Bradford East), Naz Shah (Bradford West), Rupa Huq (Ealing Central & Acton), Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Kilburn), Afzal Khan (Manchester Gorton) and Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting).
Some of the newsSouth Asian MPs from Conservative Party include: Saqib Bhatti (Meriden) and Imran Ahmad-Khan (Wakefield). The other South Asian MPs who have retained their seats- Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove), Suella Braverman (Fareham), Rehman Chishti (Gillingham & Rainham), Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hampshire), Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) and Nus Ghani (Wealden).
Some of the new Indian-origin candidates who did not win include Sara Kumar, the Tory candidate for West Ham in London, Sanjoy Sen in Wales, with other fellow candidates such as Akaal Sidhu, Narinder Singh Sekhon, Anjana Patel, Seena Shah, Pam Gosal Bains, Bhupen Dave, Jeet Bains, Kanwal Toor Gill, Gurjit Kaur Bains and Pavitar Kaur Mann.
Labour's Kuldeep Sahota and Ranjeev Walia are in a similar boat. Lib Dem’s Kishan Devani in Montgomeryshire failed to win even though he was contesting from a safe seat. Other fellow candidates included Anita Prabhakar, Dave Raval, Nitesh Dave and Meera Chadha Moynihan who suffered a similar fate.
The campaign for the elections was charged up with sections of the British Indian diaspora calling out the Labour Party over a perceived anti-India stance after it passed an emergency motion over Kashmir, implying the need for international intervention in the region. Social media activity has been focussed on building a momentum over the issue, but ultimately it did not have a major impact on the final tally. Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party has won by a majority of 78, receiving 365 votes as oppose 203 votes by Labour, and Johnson will be staying as the Prime Minister in 10 Downing Street.
Cabinet Ministers
Boris Johnson has told his "people's Cabinet" they must work "24 hours a day" to deliver on the promises made by Conservatives during the election campaign. Johnson’s former Ministers Priti Patel and Sajid Javid are expected to secure important roles in the Cabinet yet again, possibly carry on with their previous roles, as Home Secretary and Chancellor respectively. Simon Hart MP, who was a junior Minister has been appointed as the Secreatry of State for Wales and Nicky Morgan MP has come back with a new role as the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is believed Rishi Sunak, currently a junior minister is looking at a promotion, along with Alok Sharma MP.
This general election, known as Brexit election, has witnessed many traditional Labour seats converting into Tory seats, including Workington, Darlington, Bishop Auckland, Redcar, Blyth Valley and Burnley. There has been a swing of 15% votes from Labour to Conservative. The Scottish National Party (SNP) have taken seats from other parties in Scotland. There is a possibility they would push for a second referendum for Scotland’s independence, as Nicola Sturgeon insisted that Scotland would like to stay in EU. However, Johnson has recently denied the possibility of holding one.
This has been the worst result for Labour in the last 3 decades- since 1935. It is believed, many of the Labour seats in Northern England, who have been staunchly supported by hardcore Brexiteers have now shifted to vote for Conservatives, especially during election campaign, as Labour party made the mistake of portraying itself as predominantly a Remain (in EU) party. Britain is expected to leave the EU as scheduled, possibly by 31st January. Pound surged, the highest in 3 years against Euro, right after this election.
Conservative victories in a string of seats in Labour’s former heartlands meant that the party has 365 seats in the Commons, alongside a largest majority at a general election since Margaret Thatcher’s in 1987.
Jeremy Corbyn has said that he would stand down after leading the party through “a period of reflection”.
He added that he was humbled by the people who switched their vote to the Tories, “and I and we will never take your support for granted”.
The Liberal Democrats leader, Jo Swinson, resigned after losing her seat in Scotland, to an SNP candidate. The Lib Dems, as pro-European as the SNP, returned 13 MPs to Westminster. The election results would “bring dread and dismay and people are looking for hope”, Swinson said.
Peter Bishop, Chief Executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, “Individual political viewpoints aside, businesses will be grateful that the election has delivered a clear result.
The uncertainty caused by previous parliamentary deadlock had significant economic and business confidence impacts.
“The majority of London businesses now want the avoidance of a no-deal Brexit. And they want the government to agree a realistic transition period in order to negotiate a future trading arrangement with Europe that is as straightforward as possible, and provides access to balanced immigration of all skill levels.”
Theresa May's former special adviser Raoul Ruparel, in a report for the Institute for Government released on Saturday 14thDecember on exiting the EU. has said that the UK government is currently not ready for the next stage of Brexit talks.
Indians in the UK praise Boris Johnson
UK's Indian community on Friday has praised Boris Johnson's historic win in the historic general election.
Lord Rami Ranger, co-chair of the Conservative Friends of India (CFIN) said, "Boris Johnson will deliver Brexit and take the country to the next level.”
Manoj Ladwa, CEO of UK-based media house India Inc. which had released a pre-election opinion poll of British Indian voter intentions said, “The result gives Indian business the certainty they have been calling for; if not the details of what the full-fledged UK-EU trade deal will eventually look like, the fact that they will need to start adjusting to the post-Brexit challenges as well as opportunities that the UK''s new course will provide.
"A defining feature of the election has to be the unprecedented activism of the Indian Indian community in standing up to the anti-India propaganda that Jeremy Corbyn presided over within his party, regrettably much akin to the antisemitism that has plagued Labour all through his leadership.”
Boris Johnson had made a decisive play for this vote with a visit to the famous Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden, north-west London, as well as the Bhaktivedanta Manor near Watford, just days before the election. He also made a pledge to partner with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his mission to build a new India and also announced plans for a major visit to India in the New Year.
The Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP) - proactively rallied community votes against what it said was the Labour party's betrayal of British Indians.
Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, Senior Fellow for South Asia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think tank in London said, "The return of a Boris-led Conservative government focused on bilateral trade, Indian community and security relationships could possibly ensure a true strategic partnership.
"Boris Johnson's decisive electoral victory provides a unique opportunity for a real strategic partnership with India, and not just in rhetoric terms.
However, in reference to the unclear contours of the UK's future relationship with the EU ahead of the January 31, 2020 Brexit deadline, Anand Menon, Director of the UK in a Changing Europe think tank told PTI, "We simply do not know what kind of Brexit Boris Johnson wants.
"The stakes, in other words, could hardly be higher. It is conceivable that the government will be able to persuade people that Brexit was 'done'' in January. But there will be no hiding from the economic repercussions.”
Did British Hindus help Conservative party to win the UK election?
Before the elections it was popularly believed that the Hindu backlash against the Labour party’s resolution on Kashmir would cost the party dear and it would help the Conservative Party to gain the 1.3mn Indian votes. However data from the 2011 UK census showed that there were 30 constituencies in which Asians constituted over 25% of the population.
The Indian daily Times of India after the elections looked at detailed results for these constituencies from the last three general elections to see whether there was evidence of the suggested Hindu backlash and found there was little evidence of it. They wrote, “The largest chunk of the 30 constituencies (14 of them) is in the London area. The West Midlands forms the next biggest lot with six constituencies, four of them in the Birmingham area. Constituencies in and around Manchester, Leicester, Bradford, Luton and Slough make up the rest.
“Labour won 29 of these 30 constituencies, exactly the same as in the last general elections in 2017. The lone seat won by the Tories was Harrow East, just as it was two years earlier. This in itself doesn’t prove the absence of a backlash. In fact, vote share data does shows a sharp drop in the Labour vote from 67.6% in 2017 to 61.2% this time. However, this drop of 6.4 percentage points is lower than the decline of 7.8 percentage points that Labour registered nationally. If anything, Asian-concentration seats seem to have been less harsh on Labour than the rest.
“Labour’s vote share in these 30 seats now is nearly 5 percentage points higher than the 56.5% it garnered in these same seats in 2015. The vote shares of the Conservative Party too do not indicate any significant gain in these seats. It got 26.2% of the votes this time against 25.4% in 2017, an uptick of a mere 0.8 percentage points. That is lower than its national gain of 1.3 percentage points.
“Of course, Asian need not necessarily mean Indian and Indian need not mean Hindu, but it is a well-established fact that Indians comfortably outnumber other South Asians. Could it be that there was a backlash but it was counterbalanced by some other factor? It is indeed possible, but it would need to be a factor peculiar to these constituencies or at least one that has more impact in them than in the rest of the UK.”
