Councillor Alex Payton

The British Chinese community is one of the fastest growing minority groups in the UK and is one of the oldest communities in Western Europe. The community is filled with entrepreneurs who are educated, motivated and play an important role in the British economy. With approximately 45% of Chinese men and more than a third of Chinese women having achieved a first or a higher degree, it is truly shocking that there is no real presence of the Chinese community in British politics. Therefore the question lingering in the air is, “why are Chinese communities not represented in British politics”?

The House of Commons does not have any Chinese MPs and out of 20,000 councillors, only a dozen are of Chinese heritage. The Electoral Commission states that the Chinese community have amongst the lowest levels of voter registration with nearly a third not currently on the electoral role. Chinese communities in other nations such as Canada and the USA have had a prominent impact on politics, but why is British politics lugging behind? This question is being solved as many members of the Chinese community are coming together to solve this issue.

Numerous figures and organisations have been set up to get the voices of Chinese communities heard. With elections soon to be taking place, all the main parties are aiming to get the ethnic vote heard as they understand the importance of representation. Chinese for Labour, Chinese Liberal Democrats and Conservative friends of the Chinese, emphasise the need for representation in public office.

Councillor Alex Payton, elected to Newbury earlier this year, is one of the growing members of the British Chinese community who are improving representation.  Payton is one of the rising stars in the Liberal Democrats and through his election hopes to encourage the level of engagement of British Chinese individuals.   After reading the party manifesto and hearing a speech from Paddy Ashdown, Payton found the Liberal Democrats to be the party that suited his beliefs the best. With that, Payton joined the party in 2001 and since then has been Mayor of Thatcham and stood as a Parliamentary Candidate in 2010.

Payton argues that people aspiring to be in politics should, 

“have courage and faith to stand up in what they believe in”.

He uses the example of the British Chinese project which aims to better representation. The non–partisan project works with British Chinese communities to make their voices heard and create an inclusive society in modern Britain. 

Overall, the levels of representation of the Chinese community is painfully low, but with a new generation of emerging  leaders such as Alex Payton, and other such as Sarah Yong, Philip Ling and Sunny Leong, this is a community which rightfully refuses to be ignored.

Mems Ayinla