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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Muslim Tory 'advised not to run' | Muslim Tory 'advised not to run' |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Tory frontbencher Sayeeda Warsi says she was advised not to stand as an MP by her local party as voters were "not ready for two ethnic candidates". | |
| Ms Warsi stood in the 2005 general election, when she was beaten by Labour's Shahid Malik. | |
| But party officials in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, told her voters needed a "bit of time" before two Muslims ran again, she told The Yorkshire Post. | But party officials in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, told her voters needed a "bit of time" before two Muslims ran again, she told The Yorkshire Post. |
| She was made a shadow minister in David Cameron's July reshuffle. | |
| The Tory leader promoted her to the role of shadow community cohesion minister, making her the first Muslim woman to sit on the front bench of a political party in the UK. | The Tory leader promoted her to the role of shadow community cohesion minister, making her the first Muslim woman to sit on the front bench of a political party in the UK. |
| She is expected to be given a peerage soon allowing her to sit on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords. | |
| Mr Cameron has made recruiting more female and ethnic minority candidates to winnable seats central to his efforts to modernise the Conservative Party. | Mr Cameron has made recruiting more female and ethnic minority candidates to winnable seats central to his efforts to modernise the Conservative Party. |
| But in an interview with The Yorkshire Post, Ms Warsi describes how an interview with local Conservative officials made her reconsider her plans to stand again. | |
| 'Long, hard look' | 'Long, hard look' |
| She said: "The chairman said you're the best candidate we've ever had, you would have made a fantastic MP for this town but at the moment, maybe because of the way that this community is, it still needs a bit of time on both sides. | She said: "The chairman said you're the best candidate we've ever had, you would have made a fantastic MP for this town but at the moment, maybe because of the way that this community is, it still needs a bit of time on both sides. |
| "Maybe the white community is not ready for two ethnic candidates again and also the Muslim community, which really needs to take a long, hard look at itself." | "Maybe the white community is not ready for two ethnic candidates again and also the Muslim community, which really needs to take a long, hard look at itself." |
| She said: "I'm still going to be a woman at the next election. I wasn't going to change. I was still going to be brown at the next election." | She said: "I'm still going to be a woman at the next election. I wasn't going to change. I was still going to be brown at the next election." |
| I was too black for half of the community and too white for the other half Baroness Warsi | I was too black for half of the community and too white for the other half Baroness Warsi |
| She dismissed allegations that she was given her current frontbench role in a display of "tokenism" by Tory leader David Cameron, adding: "I'm quite a proud person. | She dismissed allegations that she was given her current frontbench role in a display of "tokenism" by Tory leader David Cameron, adding: "I'm quite a proud person. |
| "If someone ever gave me a job because I felt it made them look good, as some commentators have tried to put to David, I'd never do that." | "If someone ever gave me a job because I felt it made them look good, as some commentators have tried to put to David, I'd never do that." |
| In the interview, she described the prejudice she faced from some Tory voters as she campaigned in Dewsbury in 2005. | In the interview, she described the prejudice she faced from some Tory voters as she campaigned in Dewsbury in 2005. |
| 'Blunt' | 'Blunt' |
| "We had two quite extreme things working here. We had the BNP with the largest support in the country. | "We had two quite extreme things working here. We had the BNP with the largest support in the country. |
| "I had people who said they had voted Tory in the past slam the door in my face and told me to, 'F-off Paki, I ain't voting for you'. That was how blunt it was. | "I had people who said they had voted Tory in the past slam the door in my face and told me to, 'F-off Paki, I ain't voting for you'. That was how blunt it was. |
| "On the other hand, you had the community which I thought I knew well, in Savile Town and Ravensthorpe, the Muslim community, quite an orthodox community, who just had a real issue with a woman standing. | "On the other hand, you had the community which I thought I knew well, in Savile Town and Ravensthorpe, the Muslim community, quite an orthodox community, who just had a real issue with a woman standing. |
| "Suddenly people who you thought would be there to support you, it stuck in their throat. | "Suddenly people who you thought would be there to support you, it stuck in their throat. |
| "I always say that in the 2005 election, I was too black for half of the community and too white for the other half." | "I always say that in the 2005 election, I was too black for half of the community and too white for the other half." |