James Forsyth James Forsyth

Can the Tories win black votes?

Clive points to a fascinating New Statesman story by David Matthews on whether the Tories can pick up significant black support at the next election—last time out they only got 2 percent of the black vote, compared to 80 percent for Labour. As the piece points out, the Tories now for the first time have black candidates, and a black MP, who could make it to the very top.

Wary as I am about talking about blocs of voters in terms determined by their ethnicity, the Tories really should aspire to a far higher proportion of the black vote; especially as their idea of allowing non-state bodies, such as faith groups, to take on some of the roles of a state should appeal to a community where 40% of people regularly attend church.  The Tories are already planning to make a faith-based pitch to black churchgoers as those leaked

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