Kemi In The Media

It’s very hard for a parliamentary candidate to get coverage in the media. Very few press releases ever get published and oddly, the national media seem a lot more interested in me than the local press. Below, are the pieces that were lucky enough to be published.
People seem more interested in my being young/black/female than on my political views and I’m often misquoted or misrepresented, so I correct any mistakes here.

You can click on each image to read the enlarged story or where available, the online version.

Grazia and Telegraph on the 13th April 2010

Another photo shoot. This time it also features Lib Dem and Labour candidates. The Telegraph discusses the article here, but click on the picture on the far right to enlarge and read the bit about me in Grazia. I’m afraid you’ll need to buy a copy to see the pictures in all their glory!

The Guardian 7th April 2010

Ironically, the only paper that has ever let me get my point across in my own words is The Guardian which is left-wing. No over-styled photo-shoots and selective quotes, just a word count and a quick shot from the photographer which turns out to be better looking than the ones where we are heavily made up.

I may disagree with their stance on most things, but credit where credit’s due and I’d be very happy to write for them again.

Profile in the Sun – 5th April 2010

Pleased to be profiled in such a widely read newspaper, but I wasn’t happy about them describing me as “fleeing” Nigeria. I moved here to get a better education and I visited Nigeria every year until I became a parliamentary candidate – - hardly fleeing! A few people wrote to ask how does one go from working at McD’s to becoming a PPC. Here’s a handy list of jobs I did in between.

Company Magazine February 2010 edition

Daily Mail – 8th April 2010

A follow-up article based on the Sun’s photo shoot. A nice -write up with one factual inaccuracy: I WAS NOT SELECTED FROM AN ALL FEMALE shortlist. It is especially frustrating because I am opposed to these types of shortlists that exclude people because of their race, gender etc, yet many people wil believe after reading this that I benefited from a fixed list.

15 men and 15 women were short-`listed and after 2 stages, only 4 of the women made it to the final hustings which I won.

Daily Mail – 20th February 2010

My first appearance in the Daily Mail. More ethnic minority stereo-typing as they call us “The Obama Army”. The way it’s written almost implies that ethnic minorities can’t get ahead without a leg-up.

The Guardian – December 2006

My first article in a national newspaper In December 2006 before I became a parliamentary candidate

I found it very hard to condense everything I wanted to say into 500 words. Nowadays I’m lucky if I get 100!

4th November 2009 – Letter to the Evening Standard

This was written in response to an article by Kwame Kwei Armah the previous day in the Evening Standard.

I honestly believe Britain is the least racist country on earth. If a black candidate is better than his or her opponen, all other things (e.g. funding) being equal, they will win.

The Voice Newspaper – 8th February 2010

I got a very favourable write-up by Dotun Adebayo, who also hosts shows on BBC Radio London. I’d been a guest on his internet TV show the week before and had a few robust words for Lee Jasper, who is now campaigning for the Green Party. .

28th September 2009 – Evening Standard’s Londoner’s Diary

This press release/letter to the Evening Standard didn’t get published, but my comments got a mention in their Londoner’s Diary section. .It was in response to this article predicting that Tessa would lose this seat following a poll recently done across London. In the same paper, she gave an interview where she made some very annoying comments about young black women. As you can see, I get very irritated when people like Tessa make very patronising remarks on behalf of black people.

South London Press – Friday February 19th 2010

This article covers my first official debate as a parliamentary candidate. The other panellists were Harriet Harman and Simon Hughes, both very senior MPs within their respective parties. It took place in Portcullis House for the Southwark Pensioner’s parliament. I believe I held my own, judging from the reporter’s comments. It was organised by the Liberal Democrats who kindly told me about the debate for Monday morning at the weekend when they had planned it months in advance.. sneaky.