I have spent my entire adult life trying to bridge the gap between the British Indian community and the Conservative Party. It has been a lifetime’s task and as we approach the upcoming General Elections, whilst the gap may have significantly narrowed – it still exists.
For me, voting Conservative has always been a natural choice. My affiliation began when my family, along with thousands of others were warmly welcomed by the then Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath and his Conservative Government. We will never forget their commitment to support East African Asians at the time.
I joined the Conservative Party in January 1980, following the election of Margaret Thatcher a year earlier in May 1979. I was enthused by her. My main drive was a desire for a deeper human connection to a country and its politics, mediated through an organisation whose values of hard work, education, enterprise, family and aspiration I shared. The Conservatives were the only fit for that. And still are.
Other factors that made me join the Conservatives were: industrial strikes; the three-day week of winter 1974; nationalised companies including British Airways making huge losses; and the socialist policies of Harold Wilson in the mid-1970s. The Winter of Discontent (1978–79) and the perceived decline of Britain’s manufacturing sector were also big drivers.
Ironically, 40 years later, I did not foresee this same decline coming back under a new Labour leader – Jeremy Corbyn. In the twenty-first century, I am shocked and dismayed that any Political Party would even consider revisiting these socialist and nationalist policies having seen the devastation that it caused to our society and country.
In all my years of political activism, I worked in isolation from the Labour Party. We always had to prove that we were different and better than the Labour Party. However, this General Election is unique. For the first time in over 40 years, it is the Labour Party that is doing our job for us, as thousands of dedicated, long serving British Indian Labour Party voters have been left feeling alienated and coming towards the Conservative Party for the first time.
I have been shocked by the Labour Party’s anti-India stance, particularly around the Kashmir motion that was passed at the Labour Party Conference this year. The motion caused uproar not just within the British Indian community here, but across India.
A first-of-its-kind YouGov opinion poll of British Indian Voters, commissioned by India Inc. and Washington DC data analytics firm 0ptimus, revealed last month a 12 point drop amongst British Indians supporting the Labour Party since the 2017 General Election. This is the largest drop of the British Indian vote ever for the Labour Party.
My greatest ambition has always been to see the British Indian vote come across to the Conservative Party. In 2012, I set up and launched the Conservative Friends of India with my good friend David Cameron. David saw the potential of the British Indian vote – not electorally, but the fact that we were the model community for Great Britain. Our values and success represented the ideals this country aspired for.
Electorally we did begin to see results. With the help of hundreds of activists and trailblazers the British Indian vote for the Conservatives jumped from just 11% in 2005 to 49% in 2015.
Our campaign of appealing to Conservative Party voters has never been around hate or causing division, it was based on a genuine belief that the Conservative Party and its values is what is truly best for our families and country. It is because of this I hope the gap will close even more in next week’s General Election. However, what I am proud of even more is the sheer strength and dynamism of the British Indian community that pleases me the most. For the first time in a generation, it is the British Indian community which held the political parties to ransom as opposed to other way round.
You would expect me to say at every election that “it has never been more important to vote for the Conservative Party.” However, I feel this time we are at a cross roads the likes of which I have never seen before. I believe to my core that the choice we face in 10 days time will change this country's fate irrevocably. There has never been so much at stake whilst simultaneously having two candidates whose ideologies are as opposing as night and day.
I will continue to work with Conservative colleagues to engage with the British Indian community, but if there is one lesson that is to be learnt from this election – that is never to take the British Indian vote for granted ever again. We must play our part in English electoral history like we have played our parts in its industrial and cultural history. We must continue to play our part to help the UK reach its full and successful potential, and to do that, there is only one party capable of matching our communities drive and determination and that’s the Conservative Party.
I hope you will join me on the 12th and vote Conservative to secure a successful future for all the British Indian generations who follow us.
