Global Highlights: A View From The Caribbean Diaspora

A Black Conservative's Perspective on the 2010 British Elections

In this fourth of a five-part series on the 2010 British Elections, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones presents a Black Conservative perspective. Mr. Emmanuel-Jones was born in Clarendon, Jamaica and emigrated to Birmingham, England when he was four years old. He is now a very successful British Black Farmer and is contesting the parliamentary constituency in Wiltshire – a historical market town that has been transformed into commuter town with a population of 35,000, located approximately 96 miles west of London. It is a constituent that has traditionally been a bastion of the Liberal Democrats.

Mr. Emmanuel-Jones begins by tracing the pathway to his success as one of a few acclaimed Black-British farmer. He demonstrates how his “inner city ghetto” background was devoid of hope and aspirations and how important it is to have a dream despite such situations in life. He also expresses his pride in his award winning products which include gluten free sausages, bacon and chicken and his featured series of the Black Farmer on Channel 4 TV of the British media.

When addressing the reasons for his affiliation with the Conservative party, he contends that the first generation of Caribbean immigrants to the United Kingdom turned to the Labour Party with the belief that it would protect their interest against the backlash of the host community to immigration. From that perspective, he reminds his audience of the “rivers of blood speech” from the conservative Enoch Powell which led to a situation where black people tend to be on the left of British politics. Since then, and as he has succeeded in life with the help of others, he realizes that there has not been much advancement gained from black people’s loyalty to the Labour Party. He further argues that the people who migrated to the UK were classic entrepreneurs who had great courage to leave places of their birth and that entrepreneurship is classic and links to conservative ideals. As a consequence, he believes and urges other black people that it is time to be proud of and protect their parents’ entrepreneurship and to tap into that spirit of not allowing anything to get in the way.

Should he win a seat in the parliament and despite his mainly white constituency, Emmanuel-Jones promises to pitch himself as an outsider and “to make sure that black issues are very much high on the agenda than it has been in the past.” He also pledges to never forget his blackness and the responsibilities that go with that.

The interview with Mr. Emmanuel-Jones can be heard here.