Anti-Brexit PIOs in UK election |
The Liberal Democrats – the third pole in British politics after Conservative and Labour – hope to win the support of the large number of people who voted to remain in the European Union, and 14 Indian-origin candidates are part of its anti-Brexit appeal. The party was in a coalition government with the Conservatives under then Prime Minister David Cameron from 2010 to 2015, but lost heavily in the 2015 election (reduced to 8 from 57 MPs in 2010). It now hopes to recover by being the only party to promise another referendum on Brexit. Dadabhai Naoroji was one of the first MPs of the party in its earlier incarnation as the Liberal Party. He was elected from Finsbury Central in 1892, but has struggled to enlist substantial support from the British Indian community. The party had also fielded 14 Indian-origin candidates in the 2015 election. The Conservative party has fielded 13 Indian-origin candidates for the June 8 election, while Labour has 14 from the community, which had voted largely to remain in the EU. Positioning itself as the party of Remainers, it has also held out the prospect of reinstating the post-study work visa that was popular with Indian students. The visa allowed Indian and other non-EU students to work for two years after completing studies, but was abolished in 2012.
|
|