Kay Isa, is a Conservative Councillor in Chingford Green Ward, in Waltham Forest.
As a Turkish Cypriot and a Conservative councillor with 27 years of Party membership, I find myself in a position that should be far more typical than it is. The truth is that British Turkish Cypriots are one of the most natural Conservative-voting communities in the country and yet the Party has barely noticed we exist.
There are over 300,000 British Turkish Cypriots living in the United Kingdom. We are not a new or marginal presence. Most of our families first came to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, and today’s generation are overwhelmingly second and third-generation Britons. We are integrated. We are aspirational. We are entrepreneurial. We have built businesses, raised families, bought homes and put down deep roots in this country. If that does not sound like a Conservative voter to you, I am not sure what does.
Our community is concentrated in precisely the places that matter electorally. North London boroughs, Enfield, Tottenham, Haringey, Hackney and Barnet, have substantial Turkish Cypriot populations. So do parts of South London, including Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. Beyond the capital, communities exist in Birmingham, Manchester, Hertfordshire and Luton. These are not peripheral votes. These are communities sitting in genuinely contested territory.
And yet the Conservative Party has done too little to engage us.
There are a small number of Turkish Cypriot Conservative councillors already serving in public life. Alara Ayyildiz in Cockfosters, Ahmet Dourmoush and Serife Isa in Bromley, Cafer Munur in Bexley, and myself here in Waltham Forest. We are proof that this community can and does engage with Conservative politics.
But we should not be exceptions. We should be the beginning of something much larger.
The historical relationship between Turkish Cypriots and Britain is one of genuine partnership. During the Second World War, Turkish Cypriots served in the Cyprus Regiment alongside British forces. They did not stand on the sidelines. They chose Britain’s side. Today, Cyprus still hosts two British Sovereign Base Areas, a living symbol of the enduring bond between our peoples. This is not a community that needs to be persuaded of Britain’s values. They have shared them for generations.
What our community does need, and what the Conservative Party should champion, is an end to the isolation that Turkish Cypriots in North Cyprus continue to face. No direct flights. No direct trade. No direct contact with the wider world, all because of the absence of a political settlement. These are people connected to British institutions, British history and British values, who remain cut off through no fault of their own. A party that believes in enterprise and open societies should find that unacceptable.
The values that define Turkish Cypriot Britain, family, faith, hard work, patriotism and a belief that if you graft you get on, are Conservative values. They always have been. The question is whether the Party is willing to show up, listen and build the relationship this community deserves.
I believe it is. But we need to start now.
Kay Isa, is a Conservative Councillor in Chingford Green Ward, in Waltham Forest.
As a Turkish Cypriot and a Conservative councillor with 27 years of Party membership, I find myself in a position that should be far more typical than it is. The truth is that British Turkish Cypriots are one of the most natural Conservative-voting communities in the country and yet the Party has barely noticed we exist.
There are over 300,000 British Turkish Cypriots living in the United Kingdom. We are not a new or marginal presence. Most of our families first came to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, and today’s generation are overwhelmingly second and third-generation Britons. We are integrated. We are aspirational. We are entrepreneurial. We have built businesses, raised families, bought homes and put down deep roots in this country. If that does not sound like a Conservative voter to you, I am not sure what does.
Our community is concentrated in precisely the places that matter electorally. North London boroughs, Enfield, Tottenham, Haringey, Hackney and Barnet, have substantial Turkish Cypriot populations. So do parts of South London, including Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. Beyond the capital, communities exist in Birmingham, Manchester, Hertfordshire and Luton. These are not peripheral votes. These are communities sitting in genuinely contested territory.
And yet the Conservative Party has done too little to engage us.
There are a small number of Turkish Cypriot Conservative councillors already serving in public life. Alara Ayyildiz in Cockfosters, Ahmet Dourmoush and Serife Isa in Bromley, Cafer Munur in Bexley, and myself here in Waltham Forest. We are proof that this community can and does engage with Conservative politics.
But we should not be exceptions. We should be the beginning of something much larger.
The historical relationship between Turkish Cypriots and Britain is one of genuine partnership. During the Second World War, Turkish Cypriots served in the Cyprus Regiment alongside British forces. They did not stand on the sidelines. They chose Britain’s side. Today, Cyprus still hosts two British Sovereign Base Areas, a living symbol of the enduring bond between our peoples. This is not a community that needs to be persuaded of Britain’s values. They have shared them for generations.
What our community does need, and what the Conservative Party should champion, is an end to the isolation that Turkish Cypriots in North Cyprus continue to face. No direct flights. No direct trade. No direct contact with the wider world, all because of the absence of a political settlement. These are people connected to British institutions, British history and British values, who remain cut off through no fault of their own. A party that believes in enterprise and open societies should find that unacceptable.
The values that define Turkish Cypriot Britain, family, faith, hard work, patriotism and a belief that if you graft you get on, are Conservative values. They always have been. The question is whether the Party is willing to show up, listen and build the relationship this community deserves.
I believe it is. But we need to start now.