Election 2015

Decision time, Election 2015! It’s an election that is too close to call as there isn’t one party which stands out on the basis of strong policies. It’s a tough decision for many of us; there hasn’t really been much joy in British politics lately. It’s been a dirty campaign with broken promises, contradictory declarations, personal attacks, racial slurs and even death threats! Yes, death threats; the latest one coming from UKIP candidate Robert Blay, who has since been suspended from the party.

According to a Daily Mirror secret recording, when asked his opinion of Ranil Jayawardena, dubbed one of the most successful conservative Asian candidates ever and even tipped as Britain’s first Asian prime minister, Robert Blay retorted:

“If he is I will personally put a bullet between his eyes. If this lad turns up to be our prime minister I will personally put a bullet in him. That’s how strong I feel about it.”

“His family have only been here since the 70s. You are not British enough to be in our parliament.

“I’ve got 400 years of ancestry where I live. He hasn’t got that.”

Well……on a positive note, if all candidates where as honest as Robert Blay it would be a lot easier to know who to vote for! I’ve not heard much about Ranil Jayawardena but the Asian community are probably the most powerful and successful ethnic group in this country, so an Asian Prime Minister could be sitting in Parliament sooner than we all think. According to the Conservative Party website, Ranil Jayawardena is their candidate for North East Hampshire:

Picture: telegraph.co.uk

‘Ranil has served as a local Councillor since 2008 and is Deputy Leader of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, where he is responsible for the Council’s strategy and is Chairman of the Community Safety Partnership. He has previously been responsible for the regeneration of Basingstoke town and his commercial background is in financial services, so Ranil has a useful insight into today’s economic challenges, which he has brought to his role at the Council and hopes to take into Parliament. He is an alumnus of the LSE and is a Fellow of the RSA which, amongst its objectives, seeks to enable people to take an active role in solving problems in their own communities.’

On his selection, Ranil said: “I’m honoured to be the Conservative Candidate for North East Hampshire. I grew up here, live here and care passionately about our area. We live in a great part of the country but, having served as local Councillor, I’ve seen that we can make our corner of Hampshire even better. With the support of local residents, that’s what I’ll seek to do.”

I haven’t heard of a black candidate (during this election campaign) who could potentially run this country but that doesn’t mean black people shouldn’t vote. We may just have to go with the best out of a bad bunch but if black people don’t vote we release any ‘power’ that we do have…

Non-profit organisation ‘Operation Black Vote’ launched a campaign earlier this year, encouraging ethnic minorities to vote.

Actor, David Harewood

I’m sure you have all read the party manifestos?! :-). Some are below, but you can Google the rest and look at the policies which are most important to YOU and your family in 2015 going forward…don’t just vote for who you always have just because that’s what you’ve always done.

You have the power to choose.

X marks the spot.

Rapper, Tinie Tempah