Hindus contribute to Labour’s election drubbing
Having spoken to dozens of Hindus regarding who they voted for in the May 1st elections, I found that most voted for the Conservative Party, several for the Liberal Democrats, and not a single for Labour.
Historically, British Hindus have generally leant towards Labour, as have all ethnic minorities. However, there has always been a large section of Hindus who alternate between voting for the two main parties depending on current issues. And current issues have meant a huge lurch towards voting Tory, in this instance, although not without some reservation being expressed about what exactly the latter are supposed to stand for.
May 17th, 2008 at 10:08 am
A good general summary of the situation. However, whilst this latest election result showed a quite significant step-change in voting patterns, I think it reasonable to assert that there has been a gradual but quite definite political drift towards the right within the Hindu community for some time now. I think one issue that the article does not really touch on is the changing nature of the Hindu population in Britain. British Hindus today are generally (though of course not exclusively) either well-educated middle to upper-middle class professionals, or highly successful business class; both of these sections of society, regardless of ethnicity, tend towards right-of-centre politics, i.e. Conservative.
May 18th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Namaste All
While it may be true to some extent that Hindus voted against Labour, it would be too simplistic to generalise it as such.
I live in Brent and the Labour candidate for GLA election for Brent and Harrow was Cllr. Navin Shah.
As he is a good friend and the only ethnic Indian (Hindu) put forward by any major party with some hope of winning, I canvassed for him.
Out team of some ten people contacted more tha 1000 households. Most agreed to vote for Navin, although they had no confidence in Labour.
Against all odds, Navin defeated the sitting Conservative candidate. Navin’s was a personal triumph and we the Hindus
should vote for OUR candidate, irrespective of party affiliation.
When I say our candidate, it does not mean an Indian or a Hindu candidate but some one who respect us, our religion, culture and is ready to come to our assistance in our hour of need.
It is time for us, the Hindus to create a vote bank and make our vote count.
Bhupendra