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A ‘diverse’ Tory leadership race does nothing for minority groups

That’s how the colonial system of ‘divide and rule’ has always worked – it uses Black and Brown faces in high places to serve the ruling class

By Nandini Naira Archer
A ‘diverse’ Tory leadership race does nothing for minority groups
L-R: Suella Braverman, Kemi Badenoch, Rishi Sunak, Sajid Javid, Nadhim Zahawi and Rehman Chishti | PjrNews/Reuters/Jeff Gilbert/Colin Fisher/Ian Davidson/Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo. Composite by James Battershill and Martina Andretta
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Conservative supporters have praised the 'diversity' of the party's leadership candidates as nominations opened today: six of the ten frontrunners are from Black or Asian backgrounds. Earlier this year, as Rishi Sunak looked set to oust Boris Johnson in the wake of Partygate, our gender and identity editor Nandini Archer argued that representative identity politics has long been a tool of empire and the ruling class. Her analysis from January 2022 is republished below.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been dubbed the person to beat in the next Conservative Party leadership contest – whenever it ends up happening. Right-wing commentators have called him the “only choice” and praised his “calibre as a thinker and communicator” in recent weeks, while polling last December suggested he could win up to 60 seats more than a Johnson-led party.

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