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15 November 2007

People are shocked at my conservative views – Shaun Bailey

By Jonathan Beckman

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones was born in Jamaica but moved to Small Heath in Birmingham with his family at the age of four. After working in the army, catering and TV, he fulfilled a long-held ambition, bought a farm in Devon, and launched the “Black Farmer” label. Prospective parliamentary Tory candidate in Chippenham.

Shaun Bailey is the 35-year-old Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Hammersmith. He helped set up My Generation, a charity working with young people facing problems such as drug abuse and antisocial behaviour. He has a degree in computer design from South Bank University.

Bertha Joseph was a Labour councillor for 20 years and became Brent’s first black mayor. She defected to the Conservative Party in September, announcing that she had become frustrated with the inaction of the Labour group in Brent, which had failed to address a recent spate of murders in Kensal Green.

Adam Afriyie was born in 1965. He was elected as Conservative MP for Windsor in 2005, having joined the party in 1990. He graduated from Imperial College with a BSc in agricultural economics and founded Connect Support Services, an IT company. He is the shadow minister for innovation, universities and skills.

Black numbers
15 Black and minority ethnic (BME) MPs
4 BME MEPs
2 BME Conservative MPs
2 BME female MPs – both Labour
9 BME Conservative prospective parliamentary candidates
70 Seats could be decided by the
BME vote 51 % of black people would vote Labour at next election according to the Voice
Research by Jonathan Beckman

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