Opinion: The real significance of Britain’s first non-white prime minister

OPINION:

He won’t be Europe’s first non-white head of government. Ireland beat us to that. He wasn’t even Britain’s first non-white Chancellor, and nor will he be our first ethnic minority prime minister – that was achieved by Benjamin Disraeli, who was Jewish, around 150 years ago. But Rishi Sunak’s moment will nevertheless claim its stake in our history, for he will be Britain’s first non-white prime minister, and the first Hindu to hold the office.

In a beautiful (some might say divine) coincidence, Sunak became Conservative leader on the first day of Diwali, the Hindu festival of light. This aspect of his life – his devotion to the world’s oldest religion – remains underappreciated, and our understanding of his politics is surely the poorer for it.

Yet the most significant thing about Sunak’s moment is not so much his own achievement as the public’s reaction to it. It is important that it does not feel historic to most people, and that it was not necessary for Sunak to ride a cultural revolution to reach the top, as Barack Obama did in 2008. Indeed, this was not the first conceivable moment at which the Conservative Party could have selected a non-white leader. Instead, it has been clear for some time that our political system was ready to produce a Rishi – and today we see that the country was ready, too.

That calm, nonchalant reaction to Sunak’s elevation comes as a huge comfort because it reflects the sustainability of our approach to ethnic diversity. It would have been worrying if people had wailed with joy, since there would always be a mirrored response, with similar intensity. A calm reaction, on the other hand, is a display of tolerance. “We don’t care”, in Sunak’s case, in British culture, means “you are one of us”.

For centuries, in fact, our political system has been uniquely open to ethnic minorities. It allowed Ignatius Sancho, a black man born on a slave ship, to vote in the parliamentary elections of 1774 – some 90 years before the abolition of slavery in America. At around the same time, James Townsend, the descendant of a black woman from modern-day Ghana, was able to become a member of parliament and later the Lord Mayor of London.

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak on stage after a Conservative leadership election hustings at Wembley Arena on August 31. Truss would go on to win that election but only lasted 45 days. Photo / AP

The last century has seen an acceleration of, rather than a deviation from, that process. Paul Boateng became the first black Cabinet minister in 2002; Baroness Scotland was made Attorney General in 2007. The dam broke after the Conservatives returned to power in 2010: Priti Patel, Sajid Javid; later Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Suella Braverman, and of course Sunak himself.

What a narrative for the country to get behind, if only we were all willing to celebrate Britain’s successes. If only, that is, we didn’t have to deal with those who have an aversion to anything which implies that our system is geared towards racial progress. This is, unfortunately, the view of many on the Left who fear that their raison d’etre – the bizarre claim to speak for a permanently oppressed mass of non-white people – would be undermined by any such theory of progress.

Their thinking is predicated on the belief that ethnic minorities can only succeed in a redistributive, Left-wing environment, and that they are the only people who have those minorities’ best interests at heart. This is dangerous. It refuses to accept that there are a plethora of ways for non-white people to succeed. Worse, when an ethnic minority succeeds in a way that the Left perceives to be wrong, that person becomes the subject of a character assassination.

Today Rishi Sunak becomes target Number One. Activists and commentators are already attacking his supposedly privileged upbringing. Next they will sneer at his successful career. And ultimately they will claim that his policies work against other ethnic minorities. The implication is simple: he looks brown but is not brown. He doesn’t count.

This shifting of the goalposts is an admission that the Left’s opposition to racism is conditional upon meeting a political test. Taken to its logical conclusion, it implies a right to ownership over ethnic minorities, as if we were political pawns. But Sunak refused to be a pawn and still managed to succeed. Indeed, British Indians, in general, have refused to play that game.

Rather than indulging in victimhood, they are a shining example of how, through hard work and assimilation, anyone can succeed in Britain. It is not by chance that the school exam results of British Indian students are among the best, or that they grow up to have one of the highest average pay rates, as well as the highest home ownership rate of any immigrant population. A remarkable 10 per cent end up in managerial or directorship roles. Is it any wonder that they’ve produced the first non-white prime minister?

As someone who identifies with the colour-blind approach to politics, I have to confess to feeling a profound sense of pride at this moment. There is an important message in it to all black and brown children: no excuses now.