Britain is not ready for BAME PM

[notnever]

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.

I wouldn't vote for him anyway due to the long list of misdemeanours you listed nowt to do with his ethnicity

And let's not forget - a trashed economy sends racism into overdrive. A Tory government is bad for POC in general. But I doubt Sunak gives a shit about that, with the shield of his immense wealth and all.

I don't trust him at all. Therefore I don't want him to be pm. Nothing to do with his ethnicity.

I agree with that actually a PM who isn’t looking to line his own pocket might be good. But would prefer a PM who is from a working class background who actually understands where the majority of UK are going through. Not sure we are ever going to get this as in the echelons of politics at high level they are generally bloody jobs for the boys

I agree someone from wc background would be good but also agree I can't see it happening.

Yeah Labour have twice as many BAME MPs than the Tories, despite less MPs.

They also have far more women MPs too.

Big issues with diversity obviously lol.

Javid made his money selling Mexican Govt bonds in S.America, weeks before the Mexican economy tanked..... ideal Tory :)

Skin colour has nothing to do with it, it's all to do with ability

Britain has already had a BAME PM: Benjamin Disraeli.

There’s an interesting phenomenon on the right involving the “exceptional” woman or minority. It lets people feel they are not racist or sexist and that they’re really just voting for the most qualified person. But try a programme to encourage more diverse MPs and there will be massive backlash.

you saw this with Thatcher, particularly. I am no fan of hers, but she faced plenty of misogyny from her own side as well as from her opponents.

That said, while there are plenty of racists out there, the main UK parties have not separated on this line so neatly.

Rishi forced the whole Boris resignation thing.

I can't see him winning the Tory vote in the former mining constituencies the way Boris did, something I never thought I would see in my lifetime I might add. You must have seen the news clips from some of them where people are sorry he's leaving and think he's had a hard time of it.

I think a few conservative Party members might feel the same way if this goes to a membership vote rather than a shoe in by conservative MP's.

He can do it because he’s a wealthy, privileged white man, and it gives him the sort of ‘pass’ other people simply do not get.

Boris is unusual though as he seems to get away with everything. I think people just really buy into the bumbling idiot thing, no idea why!

Starmer comes from a WC background and cared for his parents as they got old, his sister still works in social care.
Also, morals too, he would have resigned if given a penalty notice, unlike Sunak and BJ.

Rayner was WC, teenage mum, care worker, re educated herself but apparently, according to Tory voters, she is a gob on a stick.... nice legs though!

If we want change at the next GE, there are alternatives, 12 years is plenty to fix the UK or at least make a start, the TOries have only helped themselves.

You'd have to know how the people posting this voted in the last GE to make this work logically.

If they voted Labour or LD then they didn't vote for Boris either.

If the US can elect Obama the UK can elect Sunak or any other non white PM.
Its not about race, much more about culture and ability to communicate, Sunak is very good, but in my opinion his family background counts against him, being mega rich will make him an easy target.

What’s with the highly strung attitude. Is your breath always taken so easily by people‘s gaps in knowledge.

@ClaudineClare well most pm's certainly want to do after they finish serving which clearly influences them whilst pm. Rishi's extreme wealth may stop a bit of that.

The general public doesn't vote for the PM. The members of the party do. Come election time, only the people in that constituency can vote for that person as an MP. You don't vote for a prime minister. You vote for a party and an MP in the area you live. If you don't live in his constituency you can't vote for him. So the question of whether the UK is ready for a non white PM its irrelevant really. The UK doesn't get a say. The Tory party do.

It’s silly to pretend you don’t vote for a Prime Minister. Of course you do. Otherwise who are the Tory party voting for when they elect their next leader. Why not elect a well-dressed chimpanzee?

And why couldn’t Jeremy Corbyn win an election?

Many, many of people don’t even know who their MP is. They may technically cast their vote for their MP, but they’re voting for the party, and in many cases, for its leader.

I do also note that his wealth and privilege is always talked about as if we don't have plenty of other white politicians who are the same - I mean they're all mostly privileged including Starmer.

Starmer? Working class Starmer whose dad worked in a factory and mum worked as a nurse? Starmer who got into grammar school and worked in a factory to get himself through uni? Hardly privileged. He got where he is by hard work and intelligence, not on inherited wealth and nepotism. I'm not even a massive fan of his but let's not pretend that he's the same as Bojo and his ilk.

@Alexandra2001 Sajid Javid comes from a WC background. His Dad was a bus driver.

Rishi's parents were middle class but not exactly beyond the realm of 'normal' - his dad was a GP and his mum was a pharmacist.

Does Jewish count as BAME?

If so, then we've already had a Tory leader and PM - Disraeli

Are we really worse now than in the 19th century?

I can’t speak for PP but you have missed the point. If you are comparing him to other Tory MPs, you don’t realise quite how rich he is. Most Tory voters and MPs aren’t super rich, so tax increases impact on their lives a lot. Rishi has proved he likes taxing and spending. If I wanted that, I would vote labour. I don’t want to vote for someone who is guilty about his unearned wealth, so spends other people’s money. He has so much money it doesn’t really matter to him. I do suspect his wife will change back her tax arrangements once he is out of politics though.

I think Britain is ready for a Prime Minister from an ethnic minority. Just not Rishi Sunak- I think Sajid Javid would be accepted by many.

@Alexandra2001 I'm fully aware of Keirs & Angela's background but they are unlikely to become pm. I think people dislike a wc man done good or a wc woman who has an opinion more than the Etonians. There's a weird subservience in England to people who are perceived to be posh. You see it with Royalty, Boris, all those threads about old money is so much classier than new money, etc.

Ask a white supremacist...

I think we're more likely to have a BAME than a female candidate for this role.
Conservatives will vote for women (unlike Labour) for the top spots. But the rising stars in the Conservatives are pretty diverse.
I think Rishi won't get it because he's not been an MP long enough. I think Tories will overlook his issues around the green card etc. He's on message, popular and hard working.
But I think he will campaign and then give way to a more experienced candidate and guarantee himself a plum job.

This is one of the hard ones. My injection is not his wealth- he's a conservative, wealth isn't unusual. I do object to the non uk tax paying wife because it's cheaper to be taxed in her home country as that smacks of UK tax evasion- and if they are both doing that, then no. It doesn't sit well with me. The assumption by the woke masses though will be anyone not supporting him is based on BAME reasons, not being a squirrelly family tax evader.