I wonder what Ali Miraj plans to do now following his outspoken comments after he failed to be selected for the next round of the new 
safe Tory Witham seat.
Ali claims he was told by Tory MPs Brooks Newmark, John Whittingdale and Bernard Jenkin (no longer in charge of candidates) before the meeting: “Good luck Ali, but I would be shocked if they didn’t pick a white middle-class male.�
Those remarks, if true, were not appropriate, but you have to have tough skin in politics. The fact that Pritti Patel got through, and yesterday’s promotion of the extremely competent Shailesh Vara as Shadow Deputy Leader of the House, demonstrates that our strong ethnic representatives are getting through on their merit.
I can fully appreciate Ali’s disappointment because he also has merit. The problem seems to be that there are many exceptionally talented candidates this time round, Ali is an A-lister so highly regarded, the plum seats are getting snapped up and this means candidates will have to face a more challenging constituency.
A clearly frustrated Ali describes his despair:
“One does begin to wonder what more one has to do to be given a realistic chance of getting to Parliament or whether one has travelled as far as one can on merit alone. The fact that Adam Afriyie and Shailesh Vara managed to land safe seats at the last election provided some hope that things had changed, but at the party conference last month, I was constantly told by existing MPs and party members, that the same kind of people will always get selected for the best seats. Code for “White middle-class maleâ€?, again.”
Ali is clearly talented and passionate about politics he has acted as an advisor to the Shadow Foreign Affairs Team and is currently a Board Member of two of the Party’s Policy Commissions. He also makes regular appearances in the media to debate some of the most contentious political issues of the day.
Maybe there are some constituencies that don’t move with the times as fast as we would like, it takes time. Is Ali right to feel aggrieved, pointing the finger at racial undertones?
However, you cannot bite the hand that feeds you, or alienate yourself from your supporters. I fear Ali has shot himself in the foot, his comments will not have endeared him to constituencies.
Commiserations to Iain Dale, who also failed to make it through to the next Witham round. No sour grapes from him though, just a dignified silence – and no doubt much mulling over about Plan B. Good luck Iain.
i don’t know….
I like Ali Miraj. I thought he was excellent on-stage at the Conference.
But yes, he has shot himself in the foot. The timing is all wrong on his part. Despite all his caveats this is a taboo he shouldn’t have touched at this stage. He has come across as boastful, flakey and potentially disloyal – hardly the kind of MP any constituency would want. His comment that he is considering giving up misses the point. This post was in itself a white flag. He has next to no hope of landing a safe seat, now.
This is pathetic – what about all of the highly talented white middle class candidates who didn’t get ON the list because of people like Mr Miraj? If he is talented he will find a seat – hopefully a marginal and win it. Such pathetic rants about deserving a safe seat is beneath him and the party.
I think he has shown himself as potentially disloyal and has shot himself in the foot. I can understand his disappointment but blaming it on his ethnicity won’t endear him to voters.
The elephant in the room, that is not being discussed, is that all the safe seats are very middle class areas. Why should they not want to be represented by someone whom they see as a kindred spirit?
Mr. Niraj, who I have never heard of, would be much better to stand for a seat where there is wider ethnic mix; but these seats are not safe, are they? Nonetheless we need to win them and it will be committed conservatives like Mr Niraj who should be heavily backed to try and win these for us.
The current mix of central/local selection is a mess. To that extent I find nothing wrong in what he said; it is his conclusion about what it means that is at fault.
Lots of us prefer white people like ourselves as opposed to brown people.
Its not racist and its simple.
James, who are “lots of us”? Your comment is very racist and cannot be condoned in any way.
I think he’s out of order. As you say, Ellee, one needs a thick skin in that game.
The simple truth is that the best people need to be selected for their talents, regardless of skin colour. Quotas of one sort shouldn’t be introduced.
I don’t agree with Ali, not least because if Witham were hell-bent on a white candidates, why is Priti Patel still on the shortlist?
To be honest, I found the following comment the most ill-judged:
I believe I have earned my right to fight a safe seat.
No. No-one in this Party has the “right” to fight a safe seat. What an absurd thing to say…
A most unhelpful contribution from James M. In his parlance, I’d like to see many more “brown people” in the Conservative Party.
One more reason why Ali should have aired his thoughts “behind closed doors”.
The message posted under my name at 5:51 was not posted by me.
Sorry James. It was out of keeping with what I can recall from your usual contributions. Just shows us that some of our enemies will happily play the race card.
Its OK PragueTory, you dont need to apologise. Some people clearly dont like me and partake in this pathetic trolling to get back at me for whatever wrong I have done (being a free market Tory is probably one of them). I came to this website for the first time last night, commenting on the fostering situation, so it was impossible for me to have been the author. I do not condone those comments.
On the issue of Ali Miraj, as I have commented on other weblogs, including his own one, I feel that he should not be expecting a safe seat based on race, or whatever considerations. If there really is this prejudice going on then its not good enough and CCO has my approval to kick the asses of everyone involved. However he should take it through the official channels. Being an A Lister does not mean that you should expect seats to come to you. You have to go to them and prove that you deserve the seat.
James, I’m sorry that your first visit should have resulted in this kind of experience, it is not normal and I hope it will not deter you from visiting again.
I agree with your views about Ali, maybe he now regrets being so hasty with his comments, the situation often looks different the next day.
Its fine. I get worse at Conservative Home and I still post there…