FACING BIAS: A polling booth in an Asian locality

Vis-a-vis 1997, parties lost votes in seats where a candidate from an ethnic minority replaced a white.

Parmjit Dhanda is the archetypal British Asian: slick, professional and a go-getter. But look beneath the social veneer and you'll find that as a British Asian, Dhanda is more a departure from the norm. The 29-year-old MP from Gloucester-one of three new ethnic candidates selected from a so-called "winnable" seat-is only one of 12 ethnic minority MPs in the British Parliament, which has a strength of 659. That, by no means, is a pointer to a lack of initiative but instead a manifestation of the prejudice against the minorities that continues to rankle British society, a submission made in the Mori Research on Race in Politics.

"People are less likely to vote for British Asian or black candidates than for white ones at general elections," says the report, that was recently published. Its findings, based on a study of the last two general elections, show that the three main political parties-Labour, Liberal Democratic and Conservative-lost votes in seats from where a candidate of an ethnic minority was fielded in 2001. However, in seats where a white candidate replaced an Asian or a black, the party's share of the vote rose.

DEFYING THE ODDS: Labour MP Parmjit Dhanda (left) was one of only three new ethnic minority candidates selected from a "winnable" seat in 2001

The research, compiled by Roger Mortimore, found that ethnic minority Labour candidates were the worst hit. In the 11 seats where a white candidate had been replaced by an Asian or a black, the vote for the party averaged a fall of 4.4 per cent though in the reverse case, the share of votes shot up by 4.2 per cent. Says Mortimore, "There is reasonably strong evidence that at the last general election Labour lost votes in seats where they selected new ethnic minority candidates. We don't know why, but presumably it is because voters were prejudiced against ethnic minority candidates."

In the 2001 General Election, the Liberal Democrats lost 0.1 per cent of the votes in the 21 seats where white candidates had been replaced with representatives of the ethnic minority. However, in seats where a white replaced a black or Asian candidate, the party's votes rose by 2.9 per cent.

The vote for the Conservatives, who still have an all-white parliamentary party, was hardly affected by the race of the candidate.

CONTROVERSIAL FEAT: Khalid Mahmood from Birmingham Perry Barr made it to Parliament but there was a 16.5 per cent swing against the Labour party

Rajwant Singh Sidhu, chair of British Indian Councillors Association, is not surprised by the revelations. "To become a councillor is not very difficult but to get into the Cabinet is," he says. Political experts and Asian councillors blame the parties for dismissing Asian candidates as people interested only in subcontinental politics. LSE professor Gautam Sen also points out that Asian candidates are often fielded on losing seats. "Asians are often fielded from 'unwinnable' seats and so even if they do get to stand for the party and are nominated they hardly have any chance of making it into Parliament," he says sardonically.

Another obstacle that prevents Asians from faring better in British politics is the community's inward-looking attitude. Observes Sidhu, "In many cases Asians don't mix with other communities. They are active within parties but when it comes to constituencies they don't mingle properly. It's not enough to find a place within the party. We should not forget that we are at the mercy of the host population."

Brent Labour MP Barry Gardiner, chairperson of Friends of India, says the group has been working towards increasing the number of young members in the party. However, he adds, they will have to work from the grassroots level. "In the past, community leaders with an established track record in the community joined at the council level. They often came with some baggage. They should ideally come after a stint at the local branch and get to know how to influence, set policies and grow organically."

Denouncing the under-representation of blacks and Asians, Naomi Fuller, spokesperson for Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), says much work has to be done. "With just 12 ethnic minority Westminster MPs and none in the Welsh and Scottish Parliament, all three main parties have much work to do to engage people who have often felt overlooked and ignored by them in the past."

However, things could already be on their way to changing. Parliament and political parties are becoming more aware of the need to increase participation by people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Of late, the CRE has been in discussion with all three political parties on the efforts they should make to ensure there is active involvement in the political process from all sections of society, adds Fuller. "It is only by setting themselves rigorous targets and being committed to seeing change that the situation will change," she says.

Gardiner agrees. "I believe there is a growing need to involve more people in the political process. In Brent there is a fairly good record."

There are debates on whether positive discrimination would help. Trevor Phillips of Greater London Assembly does not agree but Dhanda is open about it. His belief: the under-representation of ethnic minority groups in Parliament could be better tackled through means like training courses, encouragement and through the success of a crop of good quality, young ethnic minority candidates who are coming through the system.

CRE is all for positive action. "There are barriers preventing black and Asian people from entering politics. Positive discrimination is illegal in this country. We support positive action schemes which encourage ethnic minorities to become more involved in politics," says Fuller. She adds that talent, not ethnicity, should be the driving factor in candidate selection. "Just as in any other profession, a person's race is irrelevant to whether or not he makes a good politician," she says.

Even though the present looks bleak, councillors and politicians are positive about the future. "I think in the next few years we'll actually see a big increase in ethnic minority representation in the Labour Party," says Gardiner.

But as Sidhu says, only when we see more Asians winning from marginal seats that we will be able to say that they have become an integral part of the British political scene. Until then, they shall be deemed as just a peripheral presence.