The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Paul Boateng has announced he is to step down from Parliament at the election to become the British High Commissioner in South Africa.
His London seat Brent South, has the largest non-white population in the country at 64 per cent (and a large Irish community as well.)
Ethnic minority candidates have missed out in a number of Labour selection battles in recent years, something that may have cost the party a seat during the by-election in neighbouring Brent East in 2003.
There’s certain to be a strong push for an ethnic minority candidate to replace Boateng, Britain’s first black cabinet minister.
The Black Information Link has a rundown of potential candidates.
Names believed to be in the frame include Lee Jasper, senior advisor to London Mayor Ken Livingstone, Downing Street policy advisor Razi Rahman, and local Brent councillors Bertha Joseph and Lincoln Beswick.
Cindy Butts, vice-chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, is also believed to be in the running along with Kingsley Abrams, vice-chair of the Black Socialist Society, and Newham councillor Joe Ejiofor.
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