British wannabe-PMs' live debate is minus the real stuff

Houses of Parliament. Photo by Lena Varzar on Unsplash

When Britain watched five would-be prime ministers debate each other live on TV ( Channel 4, Friday, July 15) it didn’t really find out what makes them tick.

For instance, what does Rishi Sunak, the frontrunner, really think of his chances? As a third generation immigrant, does he really believe his South Asian visage can represent Britain today?

Remember, when Mr Sunak was forced onto the local branch of the Conservative Party for the safe seat of Richmond? ( Click here to read my May 2015 blog.) It was 2015 and by that point, Richmond had consistently voted Conservative for 105 years. But it was also a county that was more than 95 per cent white, with only 122 ethnic South Asians reported to be living there at that time.

Unsurprisingly then, Mr Sunak’s candidature was greeted with some scepticism in Richmond. Some locals said, “Rishi doesn’t really fit in round here”. Others lamented, “He won’t understand the life up here…it’s a dif…