Maybe. If the UK actually had a community of black politicians, it might be more believable. At a minimum the UK is ahead of Europe who are decades behind.
The authors have analysed all available polling from the two countries, including 50-year Gallup series and the poll series British Social Attitudes. They have been able to show that since the 1980s the proportion of whites who admit to discomfort at the idea of a black person marrying into the family has been falling in both nations by around two percentage points each year. In the UK, since the 80s, the percentage of people who object to a black boss has fallen by half from 20% to 10% – a similar decrease to that in America. Last week, Tidjane Thiam was appointed the first black chief executive of the Prudential financial service company.
Though there is little polling on attitudes to black politicians available in the UK, researchers point to an increase in the number of Americans saying they are willing to vote for a black candidate – from 53% in 1967 to 94% today. Given the pattern of change is similar in the UK and US on other variables, the reports' authors argue that the UK may now be ready for a black prime minister.
But the study also bears out the fears of senior British figures including Trevor Phillips, the chair of the equalities and human rights commission, that the lack of routes into politics for black British candidates still means the UK lags behind America in the number of black and ethnic-minority politicians.
