NEC candidate: Labour needs a fresh recruitment drive if it is to be truly the party of BAME communities

Earlier this week I announced my intention to seek election to Labour’s NEC.  I have now been nominated by five CLPs, passing the threshold for being a valid candidate, and I’m extremely grateful for the support.

I wish to thank the members of these five CLPs not only for their nomination but also because, I believe, their decision to back me has much to do with the diversity of members in those areas resonating with my campaign to improve diversity on Labour’s most important decision making body.

The constituencies of Finchley & Golders Green, Grantham & Stamford, Leicester East, Streatham and Vauxhall between them represent the diversity of our nation.  They include long-established communities, newly arrived communities, communities from different ethnicities and religions, and communities that have come to Britain for economic and humanitarian reasons alongside indigenous communities.  But the thing that unites many of these BAME communities is they identify with the Labour Party, they look to Labour to address issues of equality, they vote Labour in elections and they remain loyal to Labour.

However, the faith our BAME communities place in the Labour Party isn’t always reciprocated.  We are all well aware of the deficiency in BAME representation amongst our MPs, peers and councillors but there is a further deficiency that is more alarming – that amongst the party’s elected representative committees.

On our national committees there are currently four BAME representatives out of 36 on the national executive, one BAME rep out of 11 members on the national constitutional committee, one BAME rep out of seven members on the conference arrangements committee.  From the research I’ve conducted, on our regional boards the situation is as follows (this data is still incomplete, if members have any further data to contribute, please feel free to comment at the bottom of this article):

East Midlands – one BAME rep out of 32 members.

Eastern – 2 BAME reps out of 41 members.

North East – unknown number of BAME reps.

North West – 2 BAME reps out of 28 members.

South East – 2 BAME reps out of 22 members.

South West – No BAME reps out of 24 members.-

Yorkshire & Humber – No BAME reps out of 46 members

West Midlands – unknown number of BAME reps.

London regional board’s record on BAME representation stands out significantly from the other regions.  Of the 33 members on the board, ten are from a BAME background.

The BAME representation on London board is a significant improvement on the average and is a clear indication that high BAME Labour membership in a particular area is perhaps the single most important driver to influence change and progress.  This is further supported by an examination of location of our BAME councillors which shows these are largely in areas with high BAME membership.

There clearly needs to be better representation from our diverse ethnic and faith communities on all these bodies if we are truly to live up to the claim of being the party of BAME communities.  Earlier this week the BAME Labour socialist society celebrated the momentous occasion 30 years ago when four BAME representatives were first elected to parliament.  The election of Bernie Grant, Diane Abbot, Keith Vaz and Paul Boateng still resonates with BAME communities today as a step change in diversity and representation.

For me, the key lesson that can be learnt from these trailblazers is the steps taken by BAME communities to organise themselves 30 years ago to not only demand improved representation but to make it happen by putting ourselves forward for selection and working proactively to create a membership truly representative of our communities.

I am therefore today announcing a national recruitment campaign to increase the number of BAME members of the Labour Party.  Increased numbers of members from BAME communities will create the critical mass to improve BAME representation at all levels of the Labour Party.  We have to be in Labour if we are going to have a powerful voice in the Labour Party, proportionate to the scale of our communities’ contribution to Labour’s electoral strength.  We need new members from all BAME communities – long established, newly arrived, young, old, all faiths and all ethnicities.  Communities need to step up and reclaim their rightful place in the party that they loyally support, their party, the Labour Party.

Join me in this exciting campaign for real change.

Gurinder Singh Josan is a candidate for Labour’s NEC.