The Conservative Party?s 40:40 campaign for success in the 2015 General Election, is focussed on the 40 marginal seats it needs to gain from Labour (19) and the Lib-Dems (21), as well as the 40 marginal Conservative seats it must hold.
Hopefully this focus on these 80 marginal seats has taken into account a study by the parliamentary cross-party group Operation Black Vote, which suggests that the number of seats where black and Asian votes could be decisive has increased by 70% since the 2010 election.
This research published in the Guardian shows that in 168 marginal seats, including constituencies beyond inner-city areas, the ethnic minority vote is now greater than the majority of the sitting MP.
These ethnic minority communities have traditionally represented an area of strength for the Labour Party which captured 68% of their vote in 2010, compared with 16% for the Conservatives, the latter support perhaps eroded further by the current government?s tough stance on uncontrolled immigration.
Jim Messina, the Conservatives? recruit from the Obama campaign which so successfully harvested the ethnic minority votes in the US Presidential Elections, should be well placed to provide some good advice on how to improve the appeal of the Conservatives in these communities.
Reference: The Times, Monday August 12, 2013, page 13: Ethnic vote may decide result of next election.