Minorities 'disengaged' from politics

Minorities 'disengaged' from politics

Many black people in Wales are not interested in politics

There are concerns that large numbers of black and Asian people in Wales are turning their backs on politics.

With the Welsh Assembly elections just weeks away on 1 May, a new report has revealed that a third of black and Asian people are disengaged from politics.

The report found that more than 10% of ethnic minority groups in Wales were not registered to vote - almost three times the number in the Welsh electorate as a whole.

We want to work with all the political parties to make sure that all parties can claim to be multicultural

Naz Malik

The report, Black and Asian Ethnic Minorities and Political Participation in Wales, was commissioned by the All Wales Ethnic Minority Association.

The report's authors spoke to 175 black and Asian voters in Swansea and Cardiff and found that a high number felt no attachment to Wales or the UK.

The report authors added: "A third of black and Asian voters exhibit a disengagement from the political process in Wales - 31.2% of our sample had no sense of British or Welsh identity.

"Such levels of disengagement are substantially higher than for the Welsh electorate as a whole."

The reports says that more needs to be done by the political parties to get black and Asian people to vote.

Cherry Short is standing for election to the Assembly

The authors said: "Analysis of the political parties suggests the need for more engagement with the issue of black and Asian ethnic minority participation."

There are currently no black or Asian Welsh Assembly members.

In the upcoming elections, at least six ethnic minority candidates from across all four main parties will stand.

The report concludes that of these, Cherry Short for Labour in Mid and West Wales and Mohammed Asghar for Plaid Cymru in South Wales East have the best chance of being elected.

Speaking at the launch of the report at the Assembly, Naz Malik of the All Wales Ethnic Minority Association, said: "We want to work with all the political parties to make sure that all parties can claim to be multicultural."