'We need more BAME people': Wakefield's all-white Labour group 'needs to be more diverse', leader says

Wakefield's Labour group needs to be more diverse and feature more people from BAME (black and ethnic minority) backgrounds, the party's local leader has said.
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Councillor Denise Jeffery has promised to "reach out and do something about" the issue.

The group, which runs Wakefield Council and is made up of 47 members, is all-white.

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That's unlikely to change next year, with candidates for next year's local elections understood to have already been selected.

Wakefield is the only West Yorkshire council with an all-white Labour group.Wakefield is the only West Yorkshire council with an all-white Labour group.
Wakefield is the only West Yorkshire council with an all-white Labour group.

Coun Jeffery said that one Labour BAME member who was in contention for a Wakefield seat had withdrawn "for personal reasons".

She said the party had made big progress on gender equality in recent decades but admitted she was frustrated by a lack of ethnic diversity at a senior level in Wakefield.

Pressed on the issue last week, she said: "When I first came on the council (in 1987) it was a bit of an old boys' club.

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"I was seen as a young upstart coming in, and I think they thought I was there to pour the tea out at the meeting!

Coun Jeffery said she was unable to put her finger on why more BAME candidates aren't coming forward.Coun Jeffery said she was unable to put her finger on why more BAME candidates aren't coming forward.
Coun Jeffery said she was unable to put her finger on why more BAME candidates aren't coming forward.

"We really tried to get 50 per cent women and we have done that. Now we really need some BAME people in.

"We’re working with our regional office to try to encourage more people. I’m mentoring one young woman and I hope she comes forward in a couple of years."

The issue is understood to be a concern among a number of Labour members in Wakefield.

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Sources have privately drawn comparisons with the local Conservative party, which has a mixed race Muslim MP and two BAME councillors out of a group of 11.

People from ethnic minorities also make up around a fifth of the Labour group on neighbouring Leeds City Council, while in Kirklees and Bradford the figure is around half.

Although Wakefield has a smaller ethnic minority population than the rest of West Yorkshire, the local Labour party is known to have a high proportion of members from the Asian community.

Coun Jeffery said she didn't know why more BAME people were not coming forward, but said she had previously lobbied some party members directly to encourage them to stand.

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She said: "I can’t put my finger on it. In other areas there's such a good mix.

"Here it just hasn’t happened and I find it amazing.

"So many people in the Asian community are Lab members but don’t want to be on the council.

"I don’t know what’s holding them back, but I’m going to reach out and try and do something about it."

The Wakefield Constituency Labour Party's (CLP) equality and diversity officer, Armaan Khan, welcomed Coun Jeffery's comments but cautioned that more work needed to be done.

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He said: "Having recently met Keir Starmer on a Zoom call, he reiterated his commitment as party leader to pull down obstacles and barriers that limit opportunities and talent.

"Locally we have a lot of work to do to make the council and the Labour group representative of those it seeks to serve.

"I welcome Denise's commitment to promote and work in increasing BAME representation within the Labour group.

"I would welcome any opportunity to help in that endeavour."

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The chair of Wakefield CLP, Councillor Kevin Swift said that "anything that can encourage Asian communities to take a more active role was very welcome".

He added: "It’s a particular issue for us here in the city of Wakefield itself with the concentration of our Asian population in and around the centre of the city.

"Obviously the number one requirement is, and must remain, that we have people who will first and foremost be good councillors and that has to be paramount.

"But Wakefield does stand out in West Yorkshire as the only council where all the Labour councillors are 100 per cent white."

Local Democracy Reporting Service