Claims by the Tory leader, David Cameron, to be promoting ethnic diversity were called into question after an entire series of campaign calendars issued in east London – the front line of the fight against the BNP – contained only photographs of their white candidates.
The Conservatives denied that the move amounted to deliberate "airbrushing" of ethnic minority candidates. They insisted that the lack of photographs of their non-white candidates on all campaign calendars dropped through letter boxes was because their list of candidates had not been completed when the material was published. But they could not explain why the names of the non-white candidates, and their phone numbers, did appear, suggesting they had already been signed up to campaign for seats on Barking and Dagenham council. When contacted by the Observer, one Tory council candidate, Wale Oguntona, who is of Nigerian descent, said: "I have been told that all inquiries have to be handled by Simon Jones [the parliamentary candidate]."
On Saturday night Simon Woolley, the national co-ordinator and founder of Operation Black Vote, which campaigns to promote black people in politics, said: "There is a clear intent from the Conservative party to airbrush its candidates out of these leaflets. It is extremely disappointing, given that the Conservative leadership recognises the power of the black vote. This is pandering to prejudice. You can either confront race hatred or pander to it, as they are doing by having only white faces on their material."
Woolley said the party was "covering itself" with the release of pictures that appeared to be cobbled together.
Margaret Mullane, a Labour council candidate, said she had never seen her Tory opponent, Samson Omosule, on the campaign trail. "It would appear they do not want to let the gentleman out. The Labour team has not seen him."
Sadiq Khan, the Labour MP for Tooting and minister of state for transport, said: "If everything is as it appears, this is very worrying. David Cameron talks of open politics and a changed Conservative party, but here it looks as though they are scared of acknowledging their own candidates.
The glossy calendars, bearing pictures of Cameron and Jones on the front, were distributed in wards across Dagenham and Rainham. They are key pieces of campaign literature designed for people to keep on their walls.
The Tories said it was "fiction" to suggest that non-white candidates had been left off deliberately and said there was plenty of material showing these candidates. They forwarded different material to the Observer with photographs of the non-white candidates prominently displayed. But it appeared that these images had been superimposed onto the new material so that they were next to their white colleagues. They were not original, group photos.
Operation Black Vote will publish research this week showing that the black and ethnic minority vote could significantly influence the result in more than 100 parliamentary seats. Cameron has made strenuous efforts to promote the idea of a racially diverse Conservative party, but critics say that in areas where the BNP is a force and there is strong anti-immigrant feeling, parties can be wary of promoting their non-white candidates.
There are fears that in local elections on 6 May the BNP could seize control of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It currently has 12 councillors to Labour's 37 and the Tories' two. In the Barking parliamentary seat, Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, is standing against Labour's Margaret Hodge.
Ian Austin, the communities minister, says in today's Observer that Labour needs to change its tactics to confront the BNP. "The old tactics of bans, pickets and protests no longer work. Legal action over membership rules is counterproductive, too. In the coming election, candidates from mainstream parties will have to take on the BNP at public meetings, win the argument and persuade voters the BNP is wrong."
The Tories have been embroiled in a row about immigration in nearby Romford, where leaflets were distributed claiming the floodgates had been opened to mass immigration. The materialwas said to be "promoted" by Andrew Rosindell, the local MP. Rosindell was quick to distance himself from the material a fortnight ago. He said: "I did not write or approve this flyer." But he later told the Romford Recorder: "I don't think they're inflammatory; it's how people feel."
The Guardian
