Something happened today which, if it were any other country, would be seen to be remarkable: Vaughan Gething, the new First Minister of Wales, became the first black leader of any country in Europe. But having a non-white leader is not remarkable in British politics. The Scottish, Welsh and British governments are now led by what no one calls ‘politicians of colour’. In the past few years we have seen a Buddist Home Secretary (Suella Braverman), a black Foreign Secretary (James Cleverly). They are all admired or hated for a whole bunch of reasons but their skin colour is seldom a point for discussion.

An elephant-headed, four-armed Ganesh idol sits on the Prime Minister’s desk: Rishi Sunak is a practising Hindu, praying regularly with his family with a shrine in No. 10 and candles on the Downing Street door in Diwali. It’s hard to imagine such deities in the desk of the Oval Office. When Yousaf was elected he released pictures of himself at prayer in Bute House. As one of Britain’s most prominent Muslims his support for the Jewish community after the 7 October attacks didn’t get much attention but, as I have argued, such actions – and the donations this month during Ramadan – are more typical of British Islam than the well-publicised rants from extremists.

We live in sensitive times. The 7 October atrocities were intended to polarise opinion in the Middle East and reverse what had been Arab-Israel rapprochement under the Abraham Accords. But it had the side-effect of polarising society in the West, reviving anti-Semitism and raising concerns about immigration – even if the idiots who make the headlines are British-born. It’s true that the UK government struggled to calibrate post-Brexit immigration powers, letting in far more than was intended.

QOSHE - Vaughan Gething’s very British victory - Fraser Nelson
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Vaughan Gething’s very British victory

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16.03.2024

Something happened today which, if it were any other country, would be seen to be remarkable: Vaughan Gething, the new First Minister of Wales, became the first black leader of any country in Europe. But having a non-white leader is not remarkable in British politics. The Scottish, Welsh and British governments are now led by what no one calls ‘politicians of colour’. In the past few years we have seen a Buddist Home Secretary (Suella Braverman), a........

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