David Cameron was today warned against an “ethnic beauty parade” to ensure more black and Asian Tory candidates at the next election.
Conservative MP Mark Pritchard urged the Prime Minister not to repeat the “A-list” used to encourage more women and ethnic minorities to become MPs in 2010.
He argued that the Conservative parliamentary party must modernise and be more representative of British society. But he warned against “tokenism”, branding such an approach as “politically lazy”.
“The Conservative Party must not embark on an ethnic beauty parade but instead showcase trans-community principles and policies that unite the nation, appeal across every ethnic group, irrespective of background, ethnicity, religion, North South geography, gender, or income,” he wrote on the PoliticsHome website.
“This is true One Nation conservatism; inclusive, binding, cohesive, no one left behind; the British Dream, real equality.”
Just 11 out of more than 300 Conservative MPs are from ethnic minorities, though this is up from two in 2005. Mr Pritchard’s views and strong language are likely to spark controversy.
But he stressed that voters placed more importance on the calibre of a potential candidate than their origins.
He warned the party hierarchy against setting “itself on a collision course with Conservative associations by attempting to fast-track favoured ethnic minority candidates over equally talented white-British candidates”.
Echoing the view of many Tory MPs, he also called for tougher immigration controls.
