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Original poster

Britain is not ready for BAME PM

341 replies

notnever · 10/07/2022 01:06

Rishi might just be voted by MPs but will not win general elections. Already we are reminded he is rich, has an US Greencard, cut taxes, unrelatable, wife is rich and did not pay tax, did not declare tax, etc, as if any different from Boris.

Do you think Britain is ready for BAME PM?
Yes = you are unreasonable
No = you are not being unreasonable

NB, you don't have to explain whether it makes Britain racist or not. I am personally happy he is standing for leadership, it will be his good reminder (as many of us BAME know) racism trumps social class.

OP posts:
duvetsonsunday · 10/07/2022 06:45

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Guvner · 10/07/2022 06:45

Isn't the term BAME offensive as it lumps all non white people in the same category when in fact they are of wide and varied differing heritages?

MrsTerryPratchett · 10/07/2022 06:51

Guvner · 10/07/2022 06:45

Isn't the term BAME offensive as it lumps all non white people in the same category when in fact they are of wide and varied differing heritages?

Yes. But when you're talking about racism, racists lump anyone who isn't white and English all together. And describing people as non-white, non-English is much worse than BAME. The fact is that a very very rich man, married to a millionaire, whose family is posh Punjabi and is in government, experiences racism very differently to a Black single mum in Croydon who's working a zero hours contract.

She's never going to see the inside of Westminster. He already is.

tttigress · 10/07/2022 07:01

I like the fact that the Tories have such a diverse field.

I the 1970s/80s the people dishing out sexist comments/attitudes to Margret Thatcher were the Labour Party/Unions.

Dashel · 10/07/2022 07:05

I am white as is my DH and we both think he stands a good chance of becoming the the leader and winning and election - if he can get the party behind him.

Yes he is rich and his wife is even richer, but it seems a bit judgmental not to vote for him on that? I can’t imagine people saying an MP is too poor to vote for.

I have no idea who I would vote for if there was a GE tomorrow but the race of the leader wouldn’t enter into my decision making at all.

victoriaaurora · 10/07/2022 07:05

I don't care what race someone is, as long as they didn't go to bloody Eton! Maybe someone who has actually faced some hardship would have some more empathy and be a better leader. Would genuinely welcome a competent leader - skin colour or sex would not be the deciding factor for me.

Hesma · 10/07/2022 07:11

Personally I think Javid is the best of the bunch so far…

Guvner · 10/07/2022 07:13

Dashel · 10/07/2022 07:05

I am white as is my DH and we both think he stands a good chance of becoming the the leader and winning and election - if he can get the party behind him.

Yes he is rich and his wife is even richer, but it seems a bit judgmental not to vote for him on that? I can’t imagine people saying an MP is too poor to vote for.

I have no idea who I would vote for if there was a GE tomorrow but the race of the leader wouldn’t enter into my decision making at all.

I think the issue for most people with how rich he is is that he is so so wealthy that he has only really mixed with aristocratic people, wouldn't have ever had working class friends and therefore, cannot relate to most of us normal working class folk.

Original poster
notnever · 10/07/2022 07:14

@rushrushflat what skills did Boris have?
@safetyfreak So Rishi went beyond party policy and out of his own accord to increase taxes?

OP posts:
brown543 · 10/07/2022 07:15

But I agree. Brexit Britain won't vote for a brown person.

Come on. Hands up, I voted for Brexit. As did most of my highly educated, work in professional services friends. I only mention this as Leave voters are usually presented as uneducated xenophobes. Frankly it's not really relevant but I also come from a fairly diverse family, my nephew's mum was born in the West Indies and my sister in law in Pakistan.

It's an unhelpful and sweeping statement. And just for the record, I doubt many Brexit voters wouldn't vote for Rishi for that reason. His more centrist views on cutting tax, maybe. He's my front runner at the moment but we'll see.

ArcticSkewer · 10/07/2022 07:16

Why is your example - Rishi?? You give a ton of perfectly legitimate reasons why people wouldn't like him, none connected to skin colour. Why not Sunak? A lot less negative stuff to say about him (imo)

Anyway ...bame ... a total useless word.

Fairyliz · 10/07/2022 07:19

So if people don't vote for Rishi because they think he is too rich and out of touch you will assume they are racist?
Isn’t that a bit narrow minded and bending the facts to suit your theory?

LunchPoems · 10/07/2022 07:21

I was wondering about this.

I think a lot of ordinary voters would vote for a BAME person, but I’m not sure the Tories themselves will, if that makes sense?

I don’t think it’s goady to ask.

YetiTeri · 10/07/2022 07:23

ArcticSkewer · 10/07/2022 07:16

Why is your example - Rishi?? You give a ton of perfectly legitimate reasons why people wouldn't like him, none connected to skin colour. Why not Sunak? A lot less negative stuff to say about him (imo)

Anyway ...bame ... a total useless word.

Classic racist micro aggression right there.

tttigress · 10/07/2022 07:26

LunchPoems · 10/07/2022 07:21

I was wondering about this.

I think a lot of ordinary voters would vote for a BAME person, but I’m not sure the Tories themselves will, if that makes sense?

I don’t think it’s goady to ask.

Yes, but all of these people have already risen through the Tory party. So as per your theory wouldn't they have been blocked at a lower level?

110APiccadilly · 10/07/2022 07:27

Of course, if he doesn't get voted in we'll never know for sure why not. None of the senior BAME conservatives seem to have put people off voting for them though, so I am not at all convinced that having a BAME leader would do either.

I suspect there's a few racists around who wouldn't vote for him on principle (if you can call that a principle). But I also suspect there's not enough of them to change the outcome of a general election.

However, we've had a long stretch of conservative government and things both domestically and internationally are pretty tempestuous. Labour have probably got the best chance they've had in quite some time of winning an election next time, whoever the conservative leader is.

brown543 · 10/07/2022 07:27

No way vote I'd vote for Rishi the stupid fool.
Extremely high fuel prices,
High food prices
More energy Increases

We can blame Rishi for some things. But not fuel prices (bar the duty). OPEC, a pandemic and war in Ukraine have led to the energy crisis. There's nothing he can do about wholesale oil and gas prices which are set globally. And have had a knock on impact on energy bills and led to over 30 energy firms collapsing as they were selling energy at a loss to people on fixed tariffs.

Quantitive easing hasn't helped with high food prices. But it's technically the Bank of England's remit, not the government. It also got us through the pandemic when the economy was on its knees.

You could put tax rises at his door and not cutting VAT on fuel. And the fraud of pandemic schemes such as Eat out to help out. But government debt is massive and there had to be a day of reckoning plus the need to get inflation under control. The things you list are global issues which other countries are also struggling with.

Primatrying · 10/07/2022 07:28

I think Britain would be fine with a BAME PM.
I think it would be best if the next PM was not linked to Boris's cabinet though.
Need someone with integrity, regardless of colour.

ClaudineClare · 10/07/2022 07:28

It is possible that once the Parliamentary party has whittled down the candidates, the final two presented to the rest of the party members to vote on won't include a white person. I reckon that is the only way the new leader won't be white.

If the final two are a white person and a brown person I bet the white person will win. I would love to be wrong, though.

ArcticSkewer · 10/07/2022 07:29

YetiTeri · 10/07/2022 07:23

Classic racist micro aggression right there.

Show quote history

blah blah blah

Cornettoninja · 10/07/2022 07:30

Sorry, apart from his own disgraces I can’t look past the fact he’s endorsed a rotten, ineffective and corrupt leader for three years. Same goes for all of them.

But then I’m not a paid up Tory with no horse in the race to who becomes the new leader and think the whole party needs a shake to let new blood rise to the top.

Colour or creed doesn’t really come into at this point with this cast. If he did make it to leader I certainly wouldn’t consider voting for him solely because I think the country needs a PM of colour. He’s not the guy for that particular first imho.

Much like Maggie Thatchers relationship with the electorate completely detracts from her achievement as the first female prime minister, so would the achievement of any poc winning a premiership with a history of supporting this government and continuing the same culture.

ArcticSkewer · 10/07/2022 07:31

YetiTeri · 10/07/2022 07:23

Classic racist micro aggression right there.

Show quote history

You really haven't noticed that having a category of 'non-white' isn't massively racist in itself?

plugee · 10/07/2022 07:31

No way vote I'd vote for Rishi the stupid fool.
Extremely high fuel prices,
High food prices
More energy Increases

How is this Rishi's fault?

A bit of me thinks it's good he's so rich as it may make him act more independently as opposed to what will make him rich.

ClaudineClare · 10/07/2022 07:32

Sorry, should have said brown or black person.

Roselilly36 · 10/07/2022 07:33

Race is not the issue, but a lack of integrity and being out of touch with the people is going to be the issue here. How on earth can a billionaire understand the struggles of average families?