Operation Black Vote: Encouraging British Black People To Register To Vote

A campaign to encourage black and Asian people to register to vote for the next coming elections was launched by actor David Harewood, ex-footballer, Sol Camphell, paralympics medalist, Ade Adepitan and singer Tinie Tempah.

Launching the posters in London, Harewood, 49, argued that voting was the only way to change institutions such as Westminster and make them more representative of a multicultural Britain.He said: 

“If you don't register to vote, politicians don't really care about you, politicians aren't really caring about what you have to say, what you have to do, anything.”

Campaign director Simon Woolley said Operation Black Vote sought to 

“Encourage and inspire a generation of black people” to register and, equally importantly, to then vote,” and said the group is “not asking for change, we are demanding it. 

He added that BME groups had the power to affect the outcome in 168 marginal seats across Britain, adding: 

"I think there is a great deal of cynicism out there amongst black and minority ethnic communities that we feel we are powerless.

"The disproportionate levels of unemployment amongst young black youths is truly shocking, criminal justice system that often sees young black men incarcerated and at a higher level, that glass ceiling where boards in this country are virtually all white. That all has to change. Shake up the system, unleash talent, everybody benefits."

The deadline for registering to vote in the general election is next Monday, 20th April, 2015.