Ditching the  Labour tradition of the party leader not publicly backing any of the leadership candidates, Harman today nominated Diane Abbott.

Harman has been a  of equalities for a number of years, and her nomination shows that she us prepared to put her money where her mouth is.

It’s a shame that the same can’t be said for Labour’s other BME MPs who have nominated other candidates. It’s true that they should not feel pressured to vote on lines of ethnic solidarity, but we are talking about the first woman from an ethnic minority to stand for the leadership of a major British political party. She deserves their nomination, even if they choose to ultimately vote for another candidate at the final stage. What’s even more depressing is that so many MPs continue to back the candidates who ALREADY HAVE ENOUGH NOMINATIONS!! Ed Balls, Ed Miliband and David Miliband DON’T NEED ANY MORE!!

Black and Asian MPs have the power to show that they can support a minority candidate.

As it stands, they’ve shown that they are more interested in backing the more mainstream winnable candidates, and for that they should hang their heads in shame.

AS 2010 began, Trinidad and Tobago’s stale political equilibrium seemed firmly entrenched. Patrick Manning, the prime minister, and Basdeo Panday, the opposition leader, had alternated in power for nearly two decades. Their parties stood for races rather than policies: Mr Panday’s United National Congress (UNC) represented the 40% of Trinidadians of Indian descent, while Mr Manning’s People’s National Movement (PNM) was identified with the islands’ blacks. The next election was not due until March 2013.

Yet in the space of just four months, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, an energetic lawyer, has managed to topple both of the country’s political titans. On January 24th, she unseated the 77-year-old Mr Panday in a UNC leadership challenge. Her forceful opposition then panicked Mr Manning into calling a snap election on May 24th, in which her UNC-led alliance took 29 of the 41 elected seats. Thanks to Mr Manning’s miscalculation, Trinidad and Tobago now has its first female prime minister and a rare opportunity for political renewal.

Mr Manning, who has governed Trinidad and Tobago for more than 12 of the past 18 years, was re-elected in November 2007 thanks to a split opposition vote and a strong economy. An energy boom caused GDP to grow by nearly 8% annually from 2000-2007, and the islands’ 1.3m residents remain prosperous despite suffering a recession last year. Labour is scarce, roads are jammed with new cars and education is free up to post-graduate level.

Even when times were good, however, crime was soaring, just as in other Caribbean countries. Over the last decade, Trinidad and Tobago’s murder rate has quadrupled, caused by an influx of guns stemming from the drug trade, a weakening of family ties, and a growing gang presence. Another gripe is the unreliable water supply, which is particularly poor in rural areas, and was further disrupted by a recent drought.

Mr Manning’s government was also undermined by corruption scandals. In the best-known example, Calder Hart, the former head of a state development agency, granted a $136m contract to build government offices to a Malaysian company that allegedly had ties to his relatives. The story was particularly damaging to Mr Manning because a British academic’s investigation of the case was televised and attracted large audiences. The public was further incensed by the construction of a lavish new official residence for the prime minister, and delays and cost overruns in building a cricket stadium. Sensing weakness, the UNC pushed for a no-confidence vote.

With a comfortable majority in the legislature, the PNM would easily have defeated such an initiative. But Mr Manning decided to take his case directly to voters and called an election instead. He may have counted on the opposition’s divisions to give him a majority, as in 2007. However, Ms Persad-Bissessar has none of the political baggage of Mr Panday, her predecessor, whose government fell in 2001 because of corruption allegations. She quickly joined forces with the rival opposition party, which separated from the UNC in 2006 because of conflicts with Mr Panday, and called the new alliance the “People’s Partnership. ” Her campaign focused on openness and accountability. Its advertisements depicted a multi-racial group of leaders discussing policy options—a welcome change from the traditional model of a leading man inspiring a throng of supporters.

The new prime minister will now have to show she represents a change of substance. She promised voters a sumptuous menu of treats if elected, including free laptops for students, additional health and pension spending, more police on the streets, and a freeze in the property tax. She has been far less specific about how to pay for these programmes. Energy revenues made up 55% of the government’s revenues over the last five years, but have been hit by lower prices. Having broken Mr Manning and Mr Panday’s stranglehold on power, Ms Persad-Bissessar will have to meet the standards of the new era of political accountability she has vowed to bring about.

New T&T Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar

Kamla Persad- Bissessar has become the first female Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. Kamla defeated Patrick Manning at the polls yesterday.

She said in her victory speech:

“Be not afraid of the people’s victory. Those of you who did not find to support us, from today onwards, understand and know there is only one nation, there is only one people, so be not afraid. And for those who supported, I ask you be your brother’s keeper, be your sister’s keeper and no one must be left behind. Because if we leave one behind then it can happen to every one of us.”

She will have to face Ken Livingstone who has made no secret of his desire to return to the top job after he lost to Boris Johnson in 2008.

It seems to be a bit of a battle for Oona- first to win support over Ken, and then to beat Boris who has proved to be pretty popular.

But Oona has a bit of a history of challenging major political figures.

Remember 1994?  She tried to trigger the reselection mechanism in Hackney North to unseat Diane Abbott- the only black woman MP-  but failed to win support from enough wards.

The Independent reported at the time:

‘Diane Abbott’s friends say the MP felt she had been ” knifed in the back”.

Ms King said she is perplexed by all this. “I thought you could only stab someone in the back if you had some kind of agreement with them, and had then betrayed them. I had no kind of agreement with Diane Abbott. She, like me, believes in the concept of reselection, and what we had there was simply the democratic process within the party in action. I have heard all these stories about her being annoyed with me, but she has never said anything to me. In fact I cannot recall ever speaking to her.”‘

One of the charges levelled against Galloway was how could he feel pleased removing 1 of only 2 black woman MPs.

It would be interesting to see how Ken Livingstone feels being challenged by King now.