By Thomas L Blair ©2015
Black and minority ethnic voters could play a pivotal role in marginal seats in the May 2015 British elections.
“In a 168 marginal seats the BME electorate is larger than the majority in which the seat was won,” says Operation Black Vote’s influential study “Power of the Black Vote in 2015: Parliamentary seats and their voters”.
BME voters could prove this in Westminster North in London where they number nearly 40,000 and the winning margin was just 2,162. They number 23,000 in Islington and Finsbury and could make a difference in a seat won by only a margin of 3569.
This crucial pattern of making a difference shows across the nation, says OBV in support of African British and Asian British communities in politics. Derby North in the Midlands has 23,071 BME voters where the previous candidate won with a minimal 3569 vote victory. The pattern rolls on in Birmingham Edgbaston, 22,142 to a 1274 marginal win.
Furthermore, if the election contest is tight as the pollsters predict “The BME electorate could influence an even greater number of seats”, said Simon Wooley, OBV National Coordinator.
This means that for the first time, BME voters in cities and regions have an opportunity to influence British politics.
Note: the UK General Elections 2015 Series provides tips to support Black and minority ethnic communities as they seek to move from the margins to the mainstreams of democracy.
The next smart media guidelines for Black political empowerment will follow in due course.
Your comments are welcome.
Further essential readings include:
http://www.obv.org.uk/sites/default/files/images/downloads/Powerofthe%20BlackVotev3.pdf
Migrants’ Rights Network Report at http://socialwelfare.bl.uk/subject-areas/services-client-groups/minoritygroups/migrantsrightsnetwork/migrant15.aspx
Chronicleworld at the British Library