Deon P. Green, Gleaner Writer

An initiative by Operation Black Vote (OBV), in conjunction with the Electoral Commission in Britain in which Jamaicans are prominent, is aiming at encouraging more ethnic minorities to be more involved in British politics at the highest level.

The scheme has gained support from top political figures includingPrime Minister Tony Blair, Conservative Party leaders David Cameron and Liberal Democrat Menzies Campbell.

At a graduation exercise involving 21 shadow MPs at the House of Commons recently, Director of Operation Black Vote, Simon Woolley, said the programme is producing a healthy number of councillors, magistrates and activists from the black and other ethnic minority communities.

Targeting ethnic minorities

The MPs' shadowing scheme in Britain is the first to specifically target ethnic minorities and was initiated in 1999 to assist Black and Asian candidates enhance their political aspirations and to eventually become Members of Parliament. The participants were given the opportunity to shadow high-level MPs for six months where they were able to gain invaluable insight into the roles and responsibilities of MPs and the British political system.

Great support

Jamaican-born Sylbourne Sydial told The Gleaner that he enjoyed shadowing Andrew Pelling and received great support from Peter Bottomley and Dominic Grieve. Sydial, a lawyer from St. Ann and South London, said the experience was significant, especially in field work, surgeries and outreach programmes in schools. From the experiences, Sydial intends to develop his own programmes, aimed at people not usually involved in the political field.

"I see no reason why someone like me, born in Jamaica, can't be a Cabinet Minster or even Party Leader in Britain," Sydial noted.

Former Labour Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, was shadowed by Floyd Millen of Jamaican descent. Mr. Clarke said: "I enjoyed working with my shadow, Floyd Millen, and I'm confident he will succeed. I'm sure he will say, too, that it is the efforts of OBV that have helped him get this far."

Floyd is the founder of The Ocean Foundation, a centre for social research, and was a programme director of Building Futures, a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)-funded initiative, and previously worked for the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) as an adviser on the implementation of the new Home Office Guidelines on 'Custody Visiting'. He is a council member of the prestigious Hansard Society which works to promote democracy and strengthen parliament.

Mr. Woolley, who attended the graduation exercise, was delighted with the shadowing scheme. He said that, over the last few years, there has been a propensity of politicians boosting their own status for the sake of it and there is the need to deviate from such pursuit and hold MPs more to accountable for their actions.