Woman unsure of vote but 'proud' of first Asian PM

A Hindu woman has said when Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister it "was a proud moment for Asians" but she was now unsure who to vote for.

Bina Vasdev, 64, of Mickleover in Derby, added "the Conservatives have not been kind to themselves, switching parties".

The BBC has asked people to get in touch via Your Voice, Your Vote to let us know which election issues matter to you.

The grandmother-of-four said, for her, education was the most important issue, adding that the NHS and immigration were also key.

The semi-retired teacher was born in India and came to Derby when she was about five years old.

She said her family had always voted Labour.

“In the 70s, what switched off a lot of Asians ever voting Conservative (was) Enoch Powell, some of the speeches he was doing," she added.

In 1968, Conservative MP Mr Powell made an infamous anti-immigrant "Rivers of Blood" speech and was ejected from the shadow cabinet as a result.

In 2010, Mrs Vasdev said she changed her vote to Liberal Democrat due to their position on education and tuition fees.

From 2015 onwards she voted Conservative after her brother pointed out to her "we have to look at which profession we're in, our lifestyle, what benefits us".

She added: "I voted for Conservative in 2019 because they were on about border control, Brexit.

"There isn't enough houses, school places, the country is coming apart at the seams - all the greenery has gone.

"Being an Asian myself, I used to think it needs to be controlled.

"I’m not in favour of stopping everything. We need professionals. We need doctors, nurses, carers but that [border control] attracted me at the time."

The mother-of-two added: "I absolutely adored Boris. There was something about him, I thought 'wow'."

However, she said she was "disappointed" by the way the party had handled immigration.

When Sunak, who is Hindu, became leader of the Conservative party in October 2022, he made history as the UK's first Asian Prime Minister.

Mrs Vasdev said: "It was a real proud moment.

"When we think back to Asians, like my dad, that came over... to now realise we have come this far and have an Asian PM."

She said she liked how Sunak placed a diva lamp at number 10 for the first Diwali.

"I do like that he is still rooted with his background and religion," she added.

However, she said she was unsure who to vote for.

"At the moment 80% of me says I will still vote Rishi Sunak, but who knows."

Mrs Vasdev added: “Immigration isn’t the only important thing to me because I was a Brexit voter…for now NHS and education would be the two things I’d be listening out for.”

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