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FUTURE: Could a BME prime minister be moving into Number 10 in the near future?

OPERATION BLACK Vote (OBV) have officially launched this year’s MP Shadowing scheme, in a bid to find a potential future prime minister of black minority ethnic (BME) background
The 250year-old organisation is known for its BME political mentoring schemes, which have been the most successful of its type in UK history.

The scheme has helped launch the careers of Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the first female muslim cabinet member in the UK, Bristol’s Marvin Rees, the first black (African Caribbean) city mayor in Europe, and Minister Helen Grant and shadow Minister Marsha De Cordova
The latest shadowing scheme and its participants will be unveiled in the Atlee Suite, Portcullis House, Westminster, on Thursday 13 June at 3pm.

This new cohort includes 30 dynamic individuals who have been paired with MPs from four parties.

MPs taking part in the scheme include Lib Dem deputy leader Jo Swinson MP, Conservative Minister James Cleverley, and Labour’s Diane Abbott.

OBV’s Director, Sir Simon Woolley said: “I am completely overwhelmed by the calibre and desire from this new intake. Hundreds of talented individuals applied, and it was often impossible to choose.

“There is one thing that I will guarantee from this group of individuals; having embraced a path of political leadership, you will not only see, a number of these young men and women sitting on Her Majesty’s green benches representing constituencies and serving their country, but also one of this group could go all the way to Number 10 Downing St.”

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