The political incorporation of South Asian elites in Britain

Abstract

The article centres on the debate about the political importance of ethnic minorities and focuses on, first, the political participation of British South Asians at large and, second, the political activities of Asian elites specifically. Following a review of the evidence relating to mass electoral-based participation, the article then highlights the role played by Asian political elites in both setting and responding to the terms of the evaluative debate. A third section deals with the question of how Asian elites—political and other—respond to the key ideological positions of Britain's main political parties. This reopens the question of Asian political distinctiveness and how elites may contribute to debates about so-called Asian values in politics. The artcile concludes with a brief discussion of elite-based versus mass electoral-based strategies for achieving enhanced political leverage in the British system.