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!

CONFIDENCE IS OVERRATED

By Beverley Bramwell

Waiting for your confidence to show up before you can start something is often a waste of time. The irony is that until you feel confident, you can't do anything, and you can’t start anything until you have confidence.

What if you just started anyway? Start it scared! 

You take a small action, and it works. So you take another one and get a better result. Feeling confident, you continue to act and now you have momentum. Notice what happened. Your confidence showed up at the same time as you were taking action, and it increased the more you acted. You start seeing results and your confidence goes through the roof!

The real obstacle to your progress is not the absence of confidence, it's your imagined fears.

Fear of failure - what if it doesn't work?

Fear of success - what if it does work?

Fear of the unknown - I don't know what will happen

Fear of other's opinions - what will they, my family, friends, colleagues, think of what I'm doing?

We can all identify with one or more of these fears and how it stops us. When you overcome your fear, taking action is easy.

How to begin? 

Be clear about what you want. Having this clarity means that any action you take is working towards this goal.

Why are doing it, why is it important to you?

Decide if this is important to you, or are you going to give up as soon as you hit the first obstacle.  

Why wouldn't I do this? 

This is where you address those fears. Work through your list of fears. Are they important and are they sufficient to stop you acting?

When you realise that fears don't go away, new ones appear to replace the previous ones. You will feel the shift in your attitude.

So, you don't need confidence to start, that will grow as you take action.  What's the worst that can happen? Do it scared, it doesn't matter.

“Be clear about what you want.

Decide

Face your fears.

The rest is up to you”

Beverley Bramwell

Beverley Bramwell

BRITAIN ON THE BRINK?

By Callum Brunton

Will Scotland leave the UK?

It’s the question I was asking myself almost 7 years ago when I cast my vote in the Scottish independence referendum at age 16.

It’s the question I thought I knew the answer to in the early hours of Friday 19 September 2014.

But the truth is, it’s an impossible question to answer.

In the years leading up to the referendum, independence dominated Scotland’s televised media, radio stations and newspapers to make it the most extensively covered political event in Scottish history. Millions of people were having conversations in classrooms, offices, supermarkets and pubs about what Scotland’s future should be and who we are as a nation. Over that 2 year long debate I had my fair share of shouting matches over the dining room table with my dad on the pros and cons of whether to remain part of the United Kingdom or become independent. 

The referendum had record high voter engagement, with the largest turnout for an election in the UK since before the introduction of universal suffrage.

Seven years on, independence continues to define Scotland’s electoral politics and mass media reporting. Public opinion polling from January 2021 has suggested that up to 60% of Scots would consider voting in favour of independence in the event of a second referendum and this has become the fuel to many sensationalist tabloid articles and widespread media speculation.

But are we close to seeing Scotland become independent? 

Nicola Sturgeon’s approval rating has certainly gained momentum since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. But with investigations into her role in the Alex Salmond court case ongoing, and increasing traction for opposition leaders, can her popularity hold?

Brexit brings a different dynamic to the independence question. Scotland now faces life outside of the EU despite having voted 62% to remain. According to Professor John Curtice and Ian Montagu, this has contributed to a rise in support for independence.  That said, in the years following the referendum on Brexit, support for the SNP and independence dipped to its lowest level in years. As the split from Europe now becomes embedded, it remains uncertain how this might affect a future ballot on independence. 

Then consider the polls, which have become the cornerstone for setting the narrative on Scotland’s future. 

At the time of writing this, polling would suggest that more people in Scotland want to leave the UK than remain. But dig deeper, and the picture becomes murkier. The polls also suggest that most Scottish people believe independence distracts from other issues and that the Scottish government should focus on the pandemic, education, and the health service ahead of independence.

People live in the here and now, and this is reflected in public opinion polls. When asked to consider what currency an independent Scotland would use, and the arrangement at the Scotland-England border, polling from Survation has suggested that most people in Scotland would still reject independence by a similar margin to the previous referendum. In the lead-up to the 2014 referendum, the polls were also inaccurate by a factor of more than 3%. This margin of error makes it all-the-more difficult to predict ballot outcomes on this question, especially if public opinion remains as divided as it currently stands. 

It’s worth remembering that Scotland is the most politically volatile country in the UK. Since the referendum in 2014, 90% of Westminster constituencies in Scotland have changed to a different political party, and the vote share for Scotland's largest parties has bounced by over 20% between different elections. 

And let’s not forget about the impact of underlying factors such as religion, social class and national identity, or the economic and social aftermath of the pandemic.

Ultimately, Scotland’s future relationship to the rest of the UK will come down to the individual choices made by the people of this country. For some, Brexit will be the be-all and end-all in deciding what their attitude is towards the constitution. For others, it might come down to the economy, or to party leaders, or to which campaign has the better logo. 

Nobody knows how attitudes in Scotland might change if we return our focus to another 2 year long independence debate. But maybe we should ask ourselves why speculators in the media are so determined to make a ruling now on what the Scottish public thinks when no vote has been cast on the issue since 2014.

Callum Brunton

Callum Brunton