Labour is Losing Sikh Support, Ed Miliband is Told

Ed Miliband was warned that his party was losing ground to the Conservatives PA:Press Association
Ed Miliband was warned that his party was losing ground to the Conservatives
PA:Press Association

 

LONDON, UK—Ed Miliband has been criticised over the lack of prominent Sikhs in his party. Although Labour has traditionally had strong support among British Sikhs, a former councillor warned that it was losing ground to the Conservatives.

Speaking at an event in west London with Harriet Harman, the Labour deputy leader, Inderjeet Singh Nijhar said that he was seeing diminishing support for Labour, particularly among younger voters.

“In this constituency, we had the Prime Minister come last month to a Sikh businessman who’s won an award and he came to present that,” he said.

“Two weeks ago, another Sikh was elevated to the House of Lords by Cameron. I’m knocking on doors and they’re saying: look there’s no Sikh representation in the Labour party.”

Labour had several Sikh representatives in the past — the late peer Lord King of West Bromwich, and two MPs — but now it has none. Ms Harman conceded that “we have got to go faster and further”.

She said: “But we’ve got more minority ethnic MPs than all the other parties put together.”

A study by Lord Ashcroft, the Tory peer, found that 41 per cent of Sikh respondents had voted Labour in 2010, compared with 29 per cent of the electorate as a whole. Only 15 per cent voted Tory. However, two thirds of Sikhs said that, although they used to be indifferent to the Conservatives, this was changing.

1 COMMENT

  1. The issue is a policy which Harman herself push for and may ethnic labour members raised concerns for women MP’s candidate list, which now has ended up good experienced sikh and hindu councillors not e en shortlisted.
    For instance a young female candidate with no experience even as a councillor got Harrow East marginal seat Labour lost in 2010. At the same time the Conservative Party has gone out its way to having deeper engagement with both Hindu’s and Sikh community in particular the young professionals. The result is although Labour may have higher number of ETHNIC MP’s and Councillors the conservatives now have higher numbers of Hindu and Sikh MP’S then Labour and unlike labour’s Sikh and Hindu MP’s have been appointed in senior positions and inner core of the party, The Conservative Vice Chair is Alok Sharma, the PM’s speech writer is Amit Singh Gill,PM 3 visits to India including Golden Temple and for the first time we have the state funding Sikh and Hindu school putting on par with established church giving hindu and Sikh parents the write to educate there children under there faith ethos, currently 8 running and by next year 15 in total with nearly £ 20 million annual funding the largest sum ever a government given the community to allow there children to be educated in sikh and hindu faith ethos. Labour Party opposes Faith Schools and calls this privatisation of education. So at next year’s election there be a clear position for sikh voters on education.
    Ed Miliband does not even managed a single visit to India, worlds largest democracy is not even on his radar with party more focused on engagement with bankrupted EU.
    The younger sikh and hindu voters unlike there parents with social media are becomming fully aware of a deeper policy narrative and unlike other ethnic community which still mostly rely on social benefits from the state, the Hindu and Sikh younger voters and family aspirational wanting to better education and property both conservatives helping them with government right to buy scheme and again Labour Party is opposed too.
    So yes Labour has more ethnic MP’S & Councillors but not Sikh and Hindu’s and the above policy narrative are making many more looking to Conservative party who have Actually delivered and resonates within Hindu and Sikh younger voters. Simply speaking we are now following the Jewish community.

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