Recent statistics show that Labour has been losing its typical core voters since 2010. The party, who have historically enjoyed support from Britain's ethnic minority communities, have suffered abandonment from a shocking three quarters of British-Indian citizens in contrast to the 77% who were backing them in 1997. The British Election study also showed Pakistani support decreasing from 77 to 57 per cent while Caribbean votes have dropped by 14 per cent from 78 to 67. Support from the African community has dropped by 20 per cent, from 79 to 63.
Dr Maria Sobolewska, an expert on the team conducting the Ethnic Minority Election Study, announced at a conference: "What is happening is that the Labour party is sitting pretty, or at least they think they are sitting pretty, they think they have the minorities in the bag (…) but I will make these people here representing Labour a little bit uncomfortable about this assumption that minorities will vote for them as a matter of course.”
Although ethnic minority support for the Tories has seen a gradual rise over the last five years, Sobolewska asserted that this was not necessarily the consequence of people defecting from Labour. The Conservatives, who have increased their vote from the 16 per cent of black and ethnic minority (BME) voters at the last election, have been pushing to win over more of the multicultural community to fight the insurgent UKIP: “The Conservatives have been trying to win some of this vote because they think that ethnic minorities are natural small 'c' Conservatives” Sobolewska stated, “And they have been trying for a while. But I don't think for the effort they are putting in they are getting enough back – in fact they think what is going to happen to them is this so-called death by demographics that has been advertised as something that is already happening to the Republicans in the US." The expert also added “Looking at the 2014 figures I am hoping that all of you from the Labour party are shifting uncomfortably in your seats: this is a disaster.”
