The Conservative party website regularly conducts surveys of its members, including covering the question of who they would like as their next leader and potentially as the UK's next Prime Minister. According to the latest figures on Tuesday, as we went to print, 55% of the members wanted Boris Johnson to be their leader. In the second round of voting on Tuesday 18th, by Tory MPs at Westminster, Mr Johnson scored 126 votes, up from 114 in last week's first round. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt secured the second place, with 46 votes, ahead of Michael Gove on 41. Rory Stewart is up by 18 votes to remain in the contest with 37. Home Secretary Sajid Javid barely made it by 33, which is the minimum threshold for remaining in the contest. Dominic Raab failed to reach 33 votes, securing just 30.
Most of the Tories want a leader who can deliver Brexit right away and Stewart in this survey has been getting a lot of his support from Lib Dem and Labour backers. Clearly the issue isn't who Tories want as the leader, the key question is if their chosen leader, will actually be good for the country, in the current political chaos gripping the UK? The contest lacks diversity and looks increasingly unrepresentative. There are no women left and MPs are now seriously discussing whether it would be acceptable to put two Etonians and Oxford Graduates (Balliol College) into the final shortlist!
The Times reported that an ICM Poll for a British Future report, to be published later this month found that Johnson is the least trusted of all the leadership candidates among ethnic minority voters. He is symbolic of what the Tory party has become- allegedly 'Islamophobic', calling women in burkha, 'letter boxes'. It's one thing to have British humour, but someone with Turkish heritage, is almost at denial of his own roots to ridicule a culture so close to his own belonging. Rachel Sylvester in The Times wrote, an analysis by the think tank British Future found that if the Tories closed the ethnic minority voting gap, they would have won an extra 28 seats and secured a majority of 42.
Responding to the latest ballot in the Tory leadership race, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable told Asian Voice,“Boris Johnson continues to be a danger to Britain and to our relationships around the world. Conservatives in the Commons and the country must surely realise that in this deadly serious contest, the Johnson candidature is no longer a jolly joke.
“The Tories are moving to a coronation with people rallying around Johnson who have no trust or confidence in him, but are looking for jobs. This would mean a few weeks of unity with months and years of acrimony to follow. Boris Johnson's platform must be subjected to the harsh light of public scrutiny before, not after, he is handed the keys to Number 10.”
Hypothetically, if Boris Johnson becomes the Prime Minister next month, he perhaps will have to remember his days as the London's Mayor in 2008, when the city was affected by the crash. Though he claims he won twice in multicultural London, and his ex-wife was half Indian, he cannot deny that his 2012 victory was primarily based on white voters. There is no denial, under his watch, London grew at an astonishing rate, turning it to a giant economic success story- perhaps something the country needs at the moment. But global investors are naturally nervous as Johnson will potentially trigger a 'no deal' Brexit, and then an early election, which could give the Labour party a chance to win and under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn that's of no use either. Lib Dem party has perhaps been the only consistent party in this rat race, and under the newly joined Chuka Umunna, it may see a new light.
While Jeremy Hunt is raising brows, after supporting a scathing Donald Trump on London Mayor Sadiq Khan's policies, Rory Stewart is perhaps the only Etonian in this contest who the Remainers can hope, to deliver a balanced Brexit, but it is unnatural for people not to see the magic web that Sajid Javid is capable of spinning. It is astonishing to find the son of an immigrant in the Tory bandwagon, but then the Asian community has always strived to achieve new heights, and break that economic impasse. When the Windrush scandal threatened the party of its integrity and Amber Rudd her job, it was this son of an 'immigrant' who changed the disadvantage to the his own advantage, and what followed was a constructive rebuilding of faith. He has looked into the issues of the highly-skilled migrants and not too far away from solving the TOEIC 'cheating scandal' as the Home Secretary. He is backing the drive to bring back two year post-study scheme for non EU students- many think these are the correct steps in the right direction. He is undoing Theresa May's mistakes as the Home Secretary, and may do the same as the Prime Minister too. Most definitely he would remove the party's image as Islamophobe, a very crucial step to prove likes of Donald Trump wrong.
The video of Rory Stewart speaking Dari in Barking was refreshingly different, but there is absolutely no denial that the Tory party has become a party of old white men. Javid who was not invited to the State banquet for Donald Trump this month, is not wrong to still feel an 'outsider'. It is not paranoia. One must realise that this is not the true representation of the Britain we live in today- where the richest man is of Indian-origin- GP and SP Hinduja.
Sajid Javid, like London's Mayor Sadiq Khan is the right face for modern Britain and this is our only chance to give our own 'Kamala Harris' his rightful opportunity to be our 'true' state representative.
