Black People Can Be Tories, Too

“How can you be black and a Tory?”, “you’re a sell-out if you vote for Boris”, “you do realise Tories hate black people, right?”. These are a few examples of comments made to me more regularly than one might think by friends and critics alike, of all races and ethnicities. Those who know me well will know that I make no attempt to hide my political views. I am extremely vocal (perhaps too vocal) about my passion for politics and conservatism, overcompensating for my peers who all too often feel unable to speak out due to fears of social exclusion. I have never suffered from such fears, nor have I cared as to what others make of my views. I have always believed if someone is willing to exclude you based on your politics, they were never worth your time in the first place.

Due to the idiosyncratic ebullience with which I share my points of view – whether through long, ranting Facebook posts, constantly plugging OUCA events, or the litany of pictures with Conservative politicians on my Instagram – I inevitably open myself up to criticism and challenge, which I accept, and indeed welcome. Healthy debate is essential to intellectual development, and surrounding yourself only with those with whom you agree does not do you any favours. In my experience, I found that leaving the echo chamber that is boarding school and coming to Oxford, an inevitably more diverse and representative environment, forced me to reconsider strong-held convictions and has shaped my political thought for the better. However, amongst genuine challenges to my opinions, the poignant and all too common charge of me being a “coon” or a “sell-out” simply for veering from what is ostensibly the status quo is one that has become increasingly frustrating. The cognitive dissonance of those on the left who claim to be tolerant and progressive yet seek to consign me to a particular stereotype and as a result remove my agency and ability to formulate my own opinions based on the source material with which I am confronted is extraordinary, yet completely unsurprising.

The notion that black people are monolithic and as such must subscribe to a particular type of politics is both patronising and condescending, and in the context of British politics the premise that black people should have a predilection for the Labour Party is unhelpful to the democratic process and contrary to the notion of voting for a political party solely based on its leader and manifesto. The narrative all too often propagated by the left that portrays the Labour Party as saviours of ethnic minority groups is especially tragic when confronted with the awkward reality that the Labour Party has done nothing for minorities in this country. It is the Conservatives’ free market policies and sound management of our country’s finances that has produced a strong and dynamic economy which has encouraged and supported the aspiration of working people and facilitated social mobility so that minorities have more opportunities than ever before, as is reflected in the recent ONS report on ethnicity pay gaps. Rather than accept the realities of the rising socio-economic status of black people and other minority groups, the pseudo-identitarian left seem more interested in trapping ethnic minorities in perpetual narratives of victimhood.

Those that meet the idea of a black person supporting the Conservative Party with utter incredulity must wake up and smell the coffee: the left does not have a monopoly on the black vote. No one does. Black people are a large and diverse community with different backgrounds, interests, and political impulses. The assumption that there is only one way to be black, and that anyone who does not conform to that archetype is a “coconut” or “Uncle Tom”, implies that we are too stupid to understand what it means to be conservative. And the left’s labelling of successful minorities within the Conservative Party as simply “token” – as former Labour MP Emma Dent Coad referred to Shaun Bailey, the Conservative London mayoral candidate – demeans the achievements of every single ethnic minority on the right by reinforcing the idea that none of them could possibly be there on merit. It is in the Conservative Party, not the Labour Party, that the son of a Pakistani immigrant bus driver, through hard work and determination, was able to rise to the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer. It is in the Conservative Party that the daughter of Ugandan-Indian immigrants, due to the force of her own character and intellect, became our Home Secretary. Individuals such as Sajid Javid, Priti Patel, Rishi Sunak, Kemi Badenoch, Kwasi Kwarteng, Bim Afolami, and all the other fiercely talented BAME MPs in the Conservative Party are living and breathing proof of the Conservatives’ commitment to affording minorities the same opportunities as everybody else. Not through affirmative action, welfare, and positive discrimination as the socialists would have, but through ensuring that everyone in this country – regardless of race, gender, class, religion, and ethnicity – has the tools to pursue their best interests.

I’m a Conservative because, fundamentally, I believe in the basic principle that the role of government is to help others help themselves. The role of the state is to ensure the absence of constraints on individuals which would impinge on their self-improvement. I’m a Conservative because I believe that a dynamic, free market economy is the only way to ensure the creation of wealth. Socialists seem to believe that people should be numbers on a state computer, but we are individuals. We’re all unequal however much the socialists may pretend otherwise; everyone has the right to be unequal yet still be of equal importance. As Mrs Thatcher cogently put it, “A man’s right to work as he will, to spend what he earns, to own property, to have the state as servant and not as master: these are the British inheritance. They are the essence of a free economy. And on that freedom all our other freedoms depend.” These are universal values, which transcend race, class, or gender. These are values on which any free and prosperous society must be built. So, I am proud to support a party that is open and tolerant. I am proud to support a party that will encourage the aspiration of working people. I am proud to support a party that respects all citizens and stands up for democracy. Most of all, I am proud to be a black Tory.

Kofo Braithwaite (Communications Director) is a second year historian at Christ Church.