Prem Goyal
Prem Goyal: Pledges half his savings to fight inequality at the topA new political party aimed at "fighting for equality at the top" of the political echelon has been set up in the London Borough of Southwark. The aim is to spread its tentacles across London and beyond.
Founded by a group of community champions and led by local entrepreneur Prem Goyal OBE, the All People’s Party will "fight for equality at the top and give avenues and leadership opportunities now for all people, young and old, who put their community first and want change without having to go through the bureaucracy of a political party or waiting for a long time before you might be given a leadership opportunity."
Goyal said: “The process to be a candidate and represent your community for any of the main three political parties is fundamentally outdated, especially for talented minorities who have successfully migrated to England and deeply root themselves in their local community. First you have to pay your monthly membership fee. Then you have to campaign as a member for a number of years and master hundreds of arcane rules. And it is only after that you ‘might’ get an opportunity to represent your community at the lowest political level. This is not right. We are in 2013 not 1983.”
Goyal noted that many people across the borough, especially talented minorities, had shared with him their detachment and exploitation by political parties, especially Labour.
Goyal left The Labour Party a few months ago after all seven shortlisted candidates in Faraday ward were indigenous – Faraday has about 65% minority population – concluding that Labour promotes inequality in Southwark every day.
He said he was angry that "Labour still shamelessly begs for minority votes whilst continuously finding talented minorities incompetent for the top political positions in Southwark – there is only one minority out of the twelve top Labour leaders, in Council Cabinet, GLA and MP positions. But Labour is still proud of it – shame on them."
Over a dozen candidates have already joined the All People’s Party, many of whom were Labour Party activists but left the party after they alleged that Labour blatantly manipulated the selection process for the 2014 election.
One candidate, Donald Cole JP, a former Vice Chair of Peckham Labour Party and a Magistrate on the South London Bench shared why he had left Labour and joined the All People’s Party.
“I joined the Labour Party because of its core fundamental values of egalitarianism, social justice and equality of opportunity. As a member and Branch Officer of Camberwell and Peckham Labour Party, I have noticed that these values are non-existent. The days of ethnic minority people ticking the ballot papers for Labour are over. That is why I have joined this new political party, which puts our community first.”
Goyal has pledged to dedicate at least 50% of his savings to eradicate the inequality at the top in Southwark and beyond. He is willing to provide training and campaign resources to any committed candidate who puts their community first, will fight for equality at the top and create top leadership opportunities for all. No political experience is needed to become a Councillor candidate in 2014.
He said: “Young people and our community champions want opportunities now. We don’t want them to be exploited by political parties as foot soldiers for the rest of their lives. The All People’s Party will give opportunities to our talented community champions to represent Southwark and get rid of our out of touch, career politicians.
I encourage all community champions to check our website and apply for Councillor, MP and Ambassador positions.
Our vision is to have 50% talented minorities in the top political positions in Southwark Council by 2020 and a talented minority in the House of Commons for Southwark by 2015. Together we can make this change. That is my dream.”
Goyal is Patron of Peckham Pride, Executive Committee Member at Southwark’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a Trustee at Time and Talents and works with a lot of charities in Southwark. In January 2012, he was awarded an OBE for services to the economy and promoting charitable giving.
* More details about the All People’s Party can be found at www.allpeoplesparty.co.uk