Why Tory leaders win the diversity challenge

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If the bookies are correct the Conservatives are about to elect their first Black leader and, ideally, the first major Black candidate for prime minister. The prospect of Kemi Badenoch’s victory causes not-so-quiet chuckling among Tories as they savour the thought of hitting yet another diversity milestone before the more progressive Labour party.

While Labour leaders have remained white and male (aside from two deputy leaders who briefly stepped up), the Conservatives have notched up three female prime ministers and the first British Indian, and Hindu, leader in Rishi Sunak. They can also claim the first Jewish premier and chancellor (though Benjamin Disraeli converted to Christianity), first woman MP, first Black foreign secretary, the first Muslim chancellor and home secretary. In the last parliament alone, the holders of the three major jobs below prime minister included Sajid Javid, Priti Patel, James Cleverly, Nadhim Zahawi, Kwasi Kwarteng and Suella Braverman. It all underscores what used to be a Tory theme of British (and Conservative) multicultural success.

Labour, despite consistently having more female and ethnic minority MPs, has a far less stellar record. It can boast the first female cabinet minister, the first Black and openly gay cabinet ministers and now the first female chancellor and a Black foreign secretary, as well as other successes beyond Westminster.

The question (regardless of whether Badenoch wins) is why are the Conservatives so much better at these breakthroughs? With such small numbers, there is always a large element of good fortune. Winners must be in the winning faction of their party and face the right opponents. Yet the Tories do seem a lot luckier.

One reason is simple: they win more. Being in power for 32 of the past 50 years offers more chances to claim the top jobs. Leadership crises also meant the last parliament saw more jobs open up: three premiers, five chancellors and four home secretaries.

Even so, it is no accident. Despite lagging behind Labour in MP numbers, the Tories have become ruthless in advancing minorities and women. A key moment came with David Cameron’s “A-list” candidates, who were gifted safe seats to present a more diverse, modern face, which helped the party appeal to more successful minority voters.

The Cameron cohort has largely passed through now, and Tory attitudes to immigrants have hardened. In the words of a recent Focaldata report, it remains open whether it can maintain its “esoteric coalition of affluent minorities and nongraduate whites”. 

There is another probable reason. Tory women and minorities have often subsumed their identity and tried not to be defined by their ethnicity or gender (unless inviting comparison to Margaret Thatcher). There have also been moments of cynicism in which Tories use non-white ministers to defend hardline immigration policies. Badenoch wins support in the party by campaigning against “woke” identity politics. 

A byproduct of the Cameron strategy was that many of those who were brought in were high flyers, often financially successful and not particularly representative. Kwasi Kwarteng may have had Ghanaian parents but he went to Eton and Sunak to Winchester.

Most of these leaders show far less interest in diversity issues and sought not to be identified with the cause, though Javid did speak out on Islamophobia within the party. As Tories, they are less interested in challenging the existing order. Indeed, their detachment from such struggles leads to criticism and abuse from the left. Sunak and others have been disparaged with the racial slur “coconut”. The Labour MP Rupa Huq described Kwarteng as “superficially Black”. This is tricky territory. Should ethnic minority politicians be denied the right to different views? 

Thatcher was equally uninterested in the women’s agenda, which she distinguished from issues that matter to women. Nor, unlike Theresa May, did she advance female colleagues.

There is some evidence to support the Tory outlook. The Focaldata study suggests minority voters are not especially likely to reward a focus on identity issues. While minority voters still veer significantly towards Labour — though Tories fare a little better with British Chinese and Hindus — their concerns are much the same as the rest of the population, though the divide is sharper around immigration. Women too are more driven by mainstream concerns than explicitly “women’s issues”.

By contrast, women and minority politicians on the left are far more likely to embrace the equality cause and may have entered politics specifically because of it. But it can cause them to be seen as too focused on sectional issues. Colleagues can worry they may put off another segment of voters.

The upshot is that assimilated and traditional Tories seem less threatening to voters who dislike diversity. The experiences of Ed Miliband (mocked for eating a bacon sandwich) and Sunak (accused of not getting “our culture”) show prejudice remains. The unhappy inference is that you have to step away from your identity to succeed.

Campaigners dismiss Conservative triumphs as superficial. For all the importance of such firsts, the major breakthroughs on equality legislation came under Labour governments led by white men. Even so, Labour can only simmer as Tories build their own diversity narrative around this sustained, totemic success.

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