Former Cabinet Minister Priti Patel has expressed her displeasure in being labelled as 'BME' by her colleagues in an interview with BBC Radio Kent.
She told at the interview that she found the commonly used abbreviation for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) "patronising" and "insulting" and had warned her colleagues not to use it to 'label' her. She was speaking at a Conservative event in Broadstairs, Kent for the International Women's Day.
The Witham MP said she wanted to encourage moreand more Indian origin people to to get involved in politics and follow in her footsteps. But Ms Patel, the daughter of Indian immigrants of Gujarati origin, was not sure if the UK could ever have a Prime Minister from the minority background. She reportedly said there was a lot of "patronage" in the British political system and lot of institutional barriers, but added that she would "love to see it" as it would show the country was a "true meritocracy".
When asked if it could be her, she said: "Who knows?" Priti was the first female Indian-origin Cabinet minister in the UK. The former International Development Secretary and a leading Brexiteer did not rule out a bid for the Conservative leadership at some point either.
The BBC reported that Ms Patel further added that it would be a "regressive step" for any political party or government to put people in posts "just because they are women or because they represent a minority group (such as Indians).
"I don't like the labelling of people. I don't like the term BME. I'm British first and foremost, because I was born in Britain.
"I challenge all my colleagues in the Conservative Party and in Westminster: Don't label me as a BME. I've said that to people in the cabinet. I've said that to civil servants. I think it's patronising and insulting."
She added that the term was "totally unhelpful because we are people and everybody wants to be recognised for their individual merits".
The general election last year seen more BME MPs elected than before. The House of Commons now has 52 BME MPs, amounting to eight per cent of seats, a two per cent increase since 2015.
