Labour must do more to dispel the perception of racism within the party, the widow of one of the country’s first black British MPs has warned, amid frustrations that no graduate of the party’s sole scheme for developing minority ethnic talent has been selected to stand as an MP.
The party has launched the second cohort of its Bernie Grant leadership programme (BGLP), dedicated to developing the next generation of black politicians, in recognition of a lack of diversity across all levels.
Sharon Grant criticised the party for not following through with its promise to provide support to graduates, many of whom are councillors, adding the BGLP may not be “worthy of bearing Bernie’s name” unless there is tangible progress on black representation across the party.
Promoting the scheme, David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary and MP for Grant’s former constituency of Tottenham, said it was vital for “our politics to represent the communities we serve”.
Many BGLP graduates recall leaving the 2019 two-day programme “feeling inspired” by the Labour MP Dawn Butler, and they were promised further support from party officials in their careers.
“Unfortunately, it appears that very little of that support materialised, and none of the graduates appears to have been employed or selected despite the preparation they had been given,” Sharon Grant told the Guardian. “Indeed I understand that several of them have been barred from shortlists, and others have since been expelled from the party.”
Bernie Grant, “renowned for his social justice and equality work”, was one of the first four minority ethnic MPs selected to represent Labour after the 1987 election. Sharon Grant notes the Labour leadership at that time “accommodated” the MPs because they recognised the need for politicians to reflect communities’ “lived experience of exclusion and discrimination”, even though “there were tensions at times”.
She now fears the “hard fought-for natural support amongst black voters is ebbing away”, and “black and brown Labour voters may choose to stay at home or cast their vote elsewhere” at the next election.
Some BGLP graduates, who have asked to remain anonymous, fear they will not ever be able to reach a Labour leadership role because they have worked or campaigned on behalf of migrant rights, against the hostile environment, or on issues of structural racism, which puts them “in conflict” with party officials.
“It’s disheartening,” a black graduate said. “After years, I’ve accepted I do indeed need to ‘stay in my lane’, as one official suggested, and not strive to become an MP. If you are genuinely working on issues such as structural racism, it’s very likely you won’t enjoy the fruits of victory within Labour.”
Another black graduate accused Labour of operating “tokenistic” schemes and selections, adding: “They will use the face of an ethnic minority [person] when it seems convenient but never actually put them in positions of power.
“We’ve seen it in selections when they put a large amount of ethnic minorities only to represent minority-dominant constituencies, as if we can’t speak for a wider range of communities.”
“I don’t think the party has conscious bias and is actively seeking to block people of colour,” an Asian trainee said. “But sadly, there’s a higher propensity of ethnic minorities to be blocked from selections as we are inherently in tune with fighting for equality, worse as many ethnic minorities tend to sit on the left.”
Some insiders fear black hopefuls who were encouraged to apply to become parliamentary candidates have been deemed “problem candidates” by Labour officials.
While some fear Labour could backslide on its gender diversity progress too, schemes like the Jo Cox Women in Leadership programme and Labour Women’s Network training have seen many graduates flourish, including Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, and Tracy Brabin, the mayor of West Yorkshire.
Within the last decade only three minority ethnic MPs have occupied shadow portfolios for the four great offices of state: Diane Abbott, Lammy, and Lisa Nandy.
It comes after Keir Starmer has faced a reckoning over his handling of the Forde report, and the scrapping of democratic structures for BAME Labour members.
A Labour spokesperson said: “[Labour] already has more MPs from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds than the other political parties put together.
“We wish all participants in the new programme every success, as we do to all those who have participated in one of the other candidate programmes. Labour looks forward to seeing successful candidates campaign and win for Labour at every level.”
