Racism in British Politics

5.27.00pm GMT Wed 8th Nov 2006

Whilst this post draws on three recent examples of racism, or potential racism, from the Conservatives - I would like to stress this is not just a Conservative problem. I have seen racism in the three main political parties, in the Liberal Democrats I obviously did something about it. I just want to highlight the following three things and add a short comment about each.

Ellenor Bland, a Conservative Councillor and 2005 General Election candidate has been reported to the Commission for Racial Equality for allegedly sending an racist email. The email - which contains an inflammatory 'poem' that features on a white supremacist website, as well as a picture of the white cliffs of Dover with the words 'piss off - we're full' on them.

In my opinion it is completely outrageous for anyone to send racist emails, or indeed tell racist jokes, but especially an elected representative. I congratulate the Conservative Party on suspending Ellenor Bland from their approved list whilst they investigate this.

Also this week Conservative A-List candidate Ali Miraj has blogged "Before attending my interview for the Conservative safe seat of Witham on Sunday (5 November), Brooks Newmark, John Whittingdale and Bernard Jenkin - who are losing a chunk of their respective constituencies to the new seat - all told me the same thing. "Good luck Ali, but I would be shocked if they didn't pick a White middle-class male."

There is an endemic problem with all political selections, this highlights just one, there is also a problem with getting local parties to select women, in the Liberal Democrats the problem to me appears to be one of the 'local' candidate always being preferred. I am not sure what the answer is on this, I would like to think that race of a potential candidate would not matter in a Liberal Democrat selection, any ideas?

Finally, I have this week seen a Conservative survey which at best made me feel uneasy. It included the following questions:

In a section entitled Cameron's Conservatives - a list of ten points asking you to agree/disagree:

1. So you agree that tighter immigration rules should be introduced?

In a general section:

Other cultures have made Britain a more interesting and better place

Agree/Disagree

Political Correctness is damaging Britain

Agree/Disagree

I don't know if I am being hyper sensitive, I understand these may be valid questions to ask but are phrased in such a way that concerns me. In the ward where the survey went out the BNP beat the Conservatives last May and I suspect they are trying to win back some BNP votes (which is a good thing), but I am not sure this is the way to do it.