Tories advise Asian shadow minister not to stand against fellow Muslim

Britains Shadow Minister for Community Affairs, Sayeeda Warsi, has claimed that she was advised not to contest the next election against another Muslim candidate, Shahid Malik, over fears that voters were not ready for two ethnic-minority candidates to stand against each other.

London, Aug.22 : Britain's Shadow Minister for Community Affairs, Sayeeda Warsi, has claimed that she was advised not to contest the next election against another Muslim candidate, Shahid Malik, over fears that voters were not ready for two ethnic-minority candidates to stand against each other.

In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, Baroness Warsi has revealed how local Conservative officials made her think twice about standing again.

She said that in a discussion with the local Conservative party chairman, he had said: "You're the best candidate we have ever had. You would have made a fantastic MP for this town but at the moment, maybe because of the way that this community is, it still needs a bit of time on both sides."

According to The Times, he then added: "Maybe the white community is not ready for two ethnic [minority] candidates again and also the Muslim community needs to take a long, hard look at itself."

Lady Warsi's account of the conversation, which has not been challenged, will raise concerns among Conservatives who have been trying to widen the party's appeal to the ethnic minorities.

Lady Warsi was a solicitor running her own practice when she was chosen to contest Dewsbury at the 2005 election.

After her good showing there, she was appointed the Conservatives' vice-chairman for the cities by Michael Howard, then the party leader. But after her promotion by Cameron, Labour sources in Dewsbury said that the Conservative leadership had chosen a back-door route to get Lady Warsi into Parliament.

In yesterday's interview she shrugged off criticism of her appointment as a Shadow minister in the Lords. "People say to me, 'well you could have been appointed because you are a woman, or you're a Muslim or you're an ethnic woman, all those boxes that you tick'. I say let me do the job. I'm quite a proud person. If someone ever gave me a job because I felt it made them look good, as some commentators have put to David Cameron, I'll never do that."

Lady Warsi emphasised that her approach came from her own experiences.

ANI