Race, class, and candidate selection - 29 comments

I do find the level of interest in our deputy leadership election a bit mystifying, but I read via TMP (with more at BBC News) that the contenders have been discussing the idea of all-BME ("black and minority ethnic") candidacy shortlists as a way of addressing the relatively low incidence of BME MPs (the small matter of the gap between becoming a candidate and becoming an MP was not discussed).

Apparently Hazel Blears, Jon Cruddas and Peter Hain all back the idea of shortlists, and according to TMP:

Hazel Blears MP, the Party Chair, [...] said she was going to call on Labour’s National Executive Committee "to draw up a code of conduct to move towards all BME shortlists". [...]

The party is in the process of taking legal advice on the issue. Lawyers predict that the race relations legislation will need to be amended to allow the introduction of the measure.

I'd like to hear one of the candidates explain how it is not racist to deny somebody the chance to stand as a Labour candidate on the basis of the racial category people have placed them in, and which no action on their part can ever change. The same, of course, goes for all-women shortlists. What you give to one group via "positive" discrimination you take from another, and when you discriminate on the basis of race, you become a practitioner of racism. Perhaps you mean well - in which case you're merely foolish. No doubt the BNP (and worse) would fancy rewriting the Race Relations Acts if they ever acquired the power to do so. This is a sign - that candidates ought to mark well - that the Acts are doing their job.

It would be a much better use of Hazel, Jon, and Peter's time to explain to all Labour supporters why they should consider standing as a candidate: what the point of being an MP is, what can be achieved, what can be expected, and why other careers just can't cut it in comparison, rather than assuming that racial discrimination is the best explanation for the relatively low proportion of BME MPs. I believe we should go to a considerable amount of trouble to identify what the reasons are, because I believe that a healthier society is one in which racial (and other) differences count for nothing, people are freed from discrimination to make their own decisions, and it's apparent to all citizens that people they identify with are represented in all levels of public life. If, say, we were able to prove that the relatively low proportion of BME MPs was largely due to the fact that BME citizens generally preferred to pursue their own careers, or believed that becoming an MP was a waste of time - which must be pretty likely, however misguided a belief that would be... - our course of action will be different, and we can avoid tinkering with the law, the possibility of Peter Law-style legal battles, and dividing the anti-racist movement.

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One division among potential candidates that few people seem to cite is our old friend, socio-economic class. Here's a run-down of candidates for the seat of Croydon Central. This is described as being a "strong line-up". Well it is, but that uses a definition of "strong" I'm not politically comfortable with.

I don't see why we should be any more pleased that a barrister, a policy adviser, or an existing councillor is on the list than an electrician, a bus driver, a nurse, or an unemployed former bank clerk. Of course candidates must be selected on merit, and perhaps only a small proportion of club bouncers would be capable of serving their constituents as effectively they deserve (I've no evidence in either direction), but we're not even talking about shortlists here - these people are all untested.

So, the lack of ordinary people and, for that matter, the low proportion of candidates from private sector employment - where, after all, approximately 80% of the labour force work - is a big concern. The more our elected members appear to come from a similar background - whether in terms of race, religion, age, gender, education, or employment - the narrower the Labour movement must appear to the population. I'd like our candidates to prove their strength to the electorate, and especially in government, not just demonstrate a CV with impressive-sounding credentials.