The new British Prime Minister, Liz Truss, took over from Boris Johnson on Tuesday, September 6, 2022. Her cabinet is instantly noticeable not only for its right-wing ideological bent but, perhaps more importantly, for its diversity and inclusiveness. Apart from a large number of women in senior positions, it has the largest concentration of ministers of African descent, at cabinet level, in history; James Cleverly (Sierra Leone, Foreign Affairs), Kemi Badenoch (Nigeria, International Trade) and Kwasi Kwarteng (Ghana, Finance, aka Chancellor). A couple of decades ago, an African being in Parliament alone would have made heads turn, not to talk of one being a junior minister. To talk of three being in senior cabinet positions in one fell swoop, therefore, is truly remarkable. The PM resides in the famous 10, Downing Street, while the Minister of Finance resides next door, at number 11. Chancellor of the Exchequer, as the Minister of Finance is traditionally known in the UK government, is the second most important position in cabinet. The holder, by tradition, is looked upon as a potential successor to the PM. In other words, barring an egregious misstep by the Chancellor, the next frontrunner for PM from the Conservative Party in the UK, could well be an African.
What often captivates people’s imagination in this part of the world is the optics of a black face in high office in the UK, USA, Canada or any other Western nation. It invokes adoration, curiosity and relief that ‘one of us’ has made it in a ‘white man’s land’. The sense of pride felt at seeing a fellow African in high office, especially in the UK and France, is particularly poignant because of the two countries’ colonial history in Africa. The homeland of a former colonial overlord being occupied on an equal footing by the offspring of the colonised has to generate the type of soothing feeling only obtainable from the Balm of Gilead. But, it is not all hunky-dory by any means. First, why is it that Africans who rose to political prominence in Western countries tend to come from political parties palpably hostile to black people? In other words, the parties of the ‘right’, often associated with virulent opposition to immigrants, as well as racist in their view of blacks and other ethnic minorities they see as ‘scroungers’ sponging off the benefits system.
Why would any right-thinking black person feel at home in such a political party? Yet, time after time, and in country after country, black people are found thriving and rising to positions of prominence in such parties in France, Netherlands, Italy, USA and, of course, the UK. The UK’s Conservative Party has a long reputation for being, (in the words of Theresa May, former Conservative PM), the “nasty party.” It is a party that was, for many decades, wedded to the small Englander worldview. Some of its prominent members had included, in the past, people like Enoch Powell MP, in the late 1960s, who advocated the repatriation of black people back to their countries of origin. On the contrary, the Labour Party, owing to its international ‘Socialist’ solidarity antecedents, has traditionally been seen as offering a more welcoming home to ethnic minorities than the Conservatives. This claim is, of course, debatable but that is by the way. The Conservatives would say their party is a ‘broad church’, where all shades of opinion find accommodation.
The second question is why is it that black people who rose to political prominence, in right-wing parties in Europe, almost invariably have white spouses? Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly and Kwasi Kwarteng are included in a long list. And, it is not what you are thinking. It is not a thirst for a trophy spouse. Neither is it, in my view, deliberate nor concocted. The number of well-educated, well-heeled, middle-class black people in society is disproportionately few and far between. It follows, therefore, that the higher a black person climbs up the social ladder, the fewer available black spouses to choose from at that material level. There is, therefore, an air of inevitability about it. Take Kwasi Kwarteng, for example. He attended the crème de la crème, exclusive, aristocratic, Eton College for his secondary education, then, Cambridge and Harvard. What is the likelihood of him being exposed to a wider range of people of his race in those kinds of environments? You guessed it. The third pertinent question is whilst these individuals are seen as Nigerians, Sierra Leoneans, Ghanaians, etc back home, they do not see themselves in the same light and it is not entirely surprising.
If an Italian family emigrated to Nigeria, for example, any offspring born and raised in Nigeria would not generally grow up seeing and feeling Nigerian because their parents would have made it a point to immerse their children in the Italian way of life even on Nigerian soil. Most Africans born in the West do not have parents determined to inculcate their own African values into their offspring. On the contrary, most African immigrants want their offspring to thrive and become part of the society in order to minimise the consequences of discrimination that they, themselves, had suffered from settling down in a foreign (and not so welcoming) country. Africans welcome Europeans in Africa with open arms because they are seen as ‘experts’ and ‘investors’ even if the vast majority of them are not. A lot are in Africa to exploit and deepen the continent’s dependency. Most Europeans view Africans in their countries with disdain because they are seen as liabilities and a drain on the welfare state. This latter reasoning (although patently false) has long permeated mainstream thinking within the established, right-wing, parties in Western democracies.
The very notion of a Conservative, right-wing, black politician in a prominent position in Europe is, by any analytical deduction, an oxymoron. But, again, that is politics. Such black politicians, where they exist, must be seen first and foremost as rational beings acting in their own self-interest. They are politicians who refuse to carry the burden of their race to public office. Politicians often need to make ‘waves’ in other to get noticed. A black, Labour Party, politician denouncing racism and advocating for a more egalitarian society would be hardly noticeable, as he would be preaching to the converted. Whereas another black, Conservative, politician advocating for a need for tougher immigration policy, and an end to ‘positive discrimination’ in favour of minority job applicants, would be making instant waves that would reverberate across the political system. Kemi Badenoch is a prominent example of this. Her shot to fame has been largely predicated on her opposition to nearly every progressive idea championed by the labour movement and various campaign groups that have helped secure minority citizens like herself in British society for half a century.
There is no such thing as “white privilege”, no “systemic racism” no need for “race awareness” lessons in schools, she stated in Parliament. She has thus become the darling of the right-wing elements within the Conservative Party, who are keen to see her climb the political ladder even higher. At some point, Badenoch will have cause to visit Africa, perhaps, Nigeria, in her capacity as International Trade Secretary. She is a beneficiary of a long and arduous struggle for inclusion that a lot of people fought and died for in the UK. That notwithstanding, she is now part of the school of thought that does not harbour much love for race equality, because it is seen as a ‘distraction’ from their party’s individualist ethos. If and when Badenoch or any others of her ilk steps onto African soil, we should discount any ethnic affiliation with them and hold them to account for their retrogressive ideological vocation.
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