MAMA, I AM SO PROUD OF YOU

By Tamkeen Shaikh

One of the most common questions asked to me is “Why The Conservative Party?” My answer, which some find surprising, is that the Conservative Party is the only party that unites the country, and believes in equality by creating opportunity for all. 

It’s the Conservative Party that treats the people equally before the law. I believe in the moral, legal, and political equality before the law and so does the Conservative Party. We never would want to leave anyone behind. 

I am most passionate about creating opportunity by providing people with excellent education and training opportunities and supporting small businesses which in turn boosts the economy, enabling people to succeed. 

With that belief and faith, I joined the Party in 2015. In Barking, which is the heartland of Labour, supporting the Conservative Party was very uncommon. However, I was determined that Barking and its residents deserved better. 

I was born in India, graduated in Accountancy & Statistics, after which I became a journalist. I always dreamt to visit other parts of the world, so 17 years ago I moved to London to pursue my Masters and I fell in love with the city.  Since joining the Conservative Party there has been no looking back, I was first elected as Deputy Chair Political in 2016 for The Barking Conservative Association and later in 2018 as Chair. I quickly understood that funding is the key for any association to be successful. I decided to run a membership drive and hold fundraising events. Barking held its first ever fundraiser organised by the Association, well-supported by neighbouring associations. 

With a strong belief in Conservatism, during the General Elections 2019, I stood as Parliamentary candidate for Barking and increased the vote share by 4%.. Online abuse is something that has become very common. Standing as Parliamentary candidate, I experienced this first hand, with some people taking things beyond the pale. I received some messages saying that  “I was a sell out”, “You will burn in hell fire”, and was also accused of taking money, all  because I was a member of the Conservative Party. 

I was angry and upset to read these messages but they were of course unfounded accusations, and I saw them as a political attack to bring me down. I decided to move on without wasting more time on it. I am working on breaking down barriers and the only way to respond to such attacks was to carry on with what I was doing. Empowering people and speaking my mind fearlessly. 

Standing as a candidate in the general election taught me a lot. The biggest lesson that I learnt was to 'Filter, ignore and move on.' 

After moving to Southend in 2019, last year I stood as a councillor candidate in Southend, as soon as I posted this on social media the abuse began again, with comments that I was an extremist because I wear a hijab, which I do out of choice. This time I decided to call out the perpetrator. The support from Southend Conservative group, from the public, local MPs and of course my friends and family was unbelievable. It gave me so much strength and confidence to fight against such negativity. 

Despite accusations of Islamophobia against the Party, my hijab has never been an obstacle in my political career. The Conservative Party has welcomed me with open arms and I have never experienced any discrimination. Equality is something that society as a whole is fighting for and we Conservatives are at the forefront of that effort. To take this forward, I have joined the Conservatives Against Racism for Equality (CARE), a Conservative group that firmly believes in equality. 

Apart from politics, I have a huge interest in working with all communities, to build a more cohesive society. With Barking being one of the deprived areas of London, homelessness is something that needs to be addressed and we must all play our part. Lat year, I was part of an initiative to give a Christmas meal to the homeless. I not only prepared, but also served the meal at ‘The Barking Salvation Army”. This was a great success and really helped to build some community spirit.  

Last but not the least, after a long day of canvassing when I return home its very rewarding to hear my 8-year old daughter say to me, “Mama I am so proud of you.” It just empowers me to strive even more harder and gives me the assurance that nothing is impossible. 

Hard work and perseverance can achieve anything in life… We all are humans no one less or more than the other.

Tamkeen Shaikh

I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A CONSERVATIVE

By Kemi Badenoch MP

I've always been a Conservative. I didn't know it when I was younger, but I certainly was.  

Margaret Thatcher was an inspiration to me, even as a child growing up in Nigeria.  Her achievements as a woman in politics in the 1970s and 1980s made her a global icon.  Moving to the UK, I learned more about her values of self-reliance, personal responsibility and free markets which I very much share.  

I joined the Conservative Party in 2005.  At the time, many people assumed the Labour Party was the party for ethnic minorities but I knew my values and so many others from immigrant have values of personal responsibility and entrepreneurship that are more aligned with Conservatives.  

Becoming an MP is a combination of perseverance and luck.  Most people who stand for election will not win and will lose at least once.  It is very easy to get disillusioned but I had a lot of encouragement and support from my party, from the party chairman to members of my local association and in fact, still do even now as a minister!

I'm proud of the party's record on diversity. It is well known that the Conservative Party has now had 2 female Prime Ministers but less about the amazing work the Prime Minister has done in attracting a more diverse talent-pool.  This has been reflected in his appointment of the most ethnically diverse Cabinet in history.

In 2009, we had 2 MPs from ethnic minority backgrounds. Following the 2019 election we now have 22 including 5 members of the cabinet and several like myself in other ministerial positions.

We have achieved this in a meritocratic way -encouraging and developing the best candidates and never with quotas or identity politics.

Identity is multi-faceted and Conservatives do not pigeonhole people based on visible traits. I am black, and also a woman, a mother, a politician, an engineer, British and Nigerian. All of these things have an effect on my views and my politics more so than my skin colour.

That is why I set objectives during my time as Vice Chair to encourage candidates with a breadth of talent and diversity of experience to stand.  Today our party is as representative as possible of our country’s diversity. To me that means increasing the number of nurses, doctors, teachers, engineers and those with STEM backgrounds, alongside encouraging ethnic minorities, women and LGBT people. I’m glad that I’ve also been able to continue this work beyond the party candidates process, and in my government roles as Treasury and Equalities minister.

The advice I would give to women specifically who want to get involved is "Don't let imposter syndrome stop you".  Politics isn't easy, but the earlier you get involved, the more you will learn.  Help others on their political journeys by getting involved in campaigning and they will help you in return - and you will make friends for life!

HUMANITY ON SCREEN

By Grace Thompson

In the past few weeks, we have seen our political leaders on television more than ever before. Regular press briefings, updates to the House of Commons and more breakfast appearances and interviews than the biggest political junkie could wish for.

Even scientists have not been spared the media scrutiny of their personality antics. They have also been thrown into the public gaze in a way that is probably unusual and perhaps even uncomfortable for them. In past years, the face of the Chief Medical Officer may never have been known to the public. This year, we can all recognise him just by sight. The chirpiness of Sir Simon Stevens, the eloquence of Patrick Vallance the honest emotion of Jonathan Van-Tam are all now familiar traits.

Perhaps in a time where we have fewer interactions with our support networks and other people in general, it is somehow comforting to relate, in some way, to the frequent personalities on our screens, even if those methods of relating aren’t always positive! Just as our closest friends and family members get on our nerves from time to time, so we have our favourite political and authority figures who we admire or the ones we may even love to laugh at. 

Surely there is no coincidence that in a year that has caused political advisers and super-forecasters to catch the attention of the media like never before, we have also seen the return of the iconic Spitting Image show, gobbling up new material in their hands with greed. 

In what now seems like an age ago, Theresa May defied past prime ministerial trends by pushing away the show glitzy, cozy-up-to-me PM style of Cameron and Blair. The limelight wasn’t natural to her, so heading up the history-making negotiations of a country leaving the European Union probably wasn’t the best match. Boris Johnson, on the other hand, loves the limelight but probably didn’t bargain for having quite as much airtime as he has had to experience in the past few months, and with very little good news to deliver. 

Trust in our leaders currently requires frequent interaction, even if only virtual, but it requires even more than that. Research is being carried out as to why it seems that many female leaders of countries experiencing Covid have handled the pandemic particularly well. Fierce critics of Nicola Sturgeon, for example, suddenly see a new side to her and praise her sensible decisions and incisive timing. Jacinda Adern sees New Zealand successfully drop to 0 recorded cases and ‘does a little dance’ in her living room to celebrate.  

I don’t think anyone who heard Matt Hancock’s voice shake as he spoke of losing his step-grandfather to Covid could doubt his determination to fight it. Authority can be better followed when those in authority are also seen to be as human as the rest of us. Our leaders, after all, are not immortals in ivory towers, they are flesh and blood who can be infected with viruses as easily as the next person and who can love and lose as we all do. So perhaps, in a time when the best and worst of our humanity is entangling simultaneously, what we need is to see the authentic human side of our leaders on the screen.

Grace Thompson

Grace Thompson