Mini Election: Sajid Javid on appealing to ethnic minorities and negative campaigning

The Conservative party still doesn’t attract enough ethnic minorities. In this week’s Mini Election video, I visit Essex to speak to the Culture Secretary Sajid Javid about what the Tories have done to increase their appeal to non-white voters. He thinks Baroness Warsi is wrong and believes that the Conservatives are not ‘set to lose’ the Muslim vote in May.

We discussed whether Lord Bates’ comments about immigrant mothers having too many babies were likely to turn voters away. Javid acknowledged that there are real concerns about immigration that need to be addressed but did not explicitly say he disagreed with Bates’ remarks. With the proper campaign just one week away, is Javid at all concerned that the Tories still aren’t ahead in the polls? As one of the five main faces of the Tory campaign, does he think his party’s tactics have been too negative so far, or are they necessary to highlight the dangers of handing power to Ed Miliband?