Again I am struck by differences in our cultures. I'm not saying there isn't racism on this side of the Atlantic, but it doesn't seem to have quite the (searches for word) centrality here that it does in American culture. The current Prime Minister, Scotlands' current First Minister and many on the front and back benches of all parties are people of colour and nobody is going berserk about it. Not in the way in which so many Americans seemed freaked out by President Obama.

But I realised long ago that here in the UK, racism is unconsciously seen as 'new', and has never overcome much older prejudices. By which I mean social class. Here, the Black man with the Old Etonian tie, bespoke suit, highly-polished black Oxfords (not brogues) and cut-glass vowels will always do better than the white man with an ordinary tie, off-the-peg suit, loafers and a hint of a regional (especially Northern) accent. Colour, qualifications and talent matter much less.

It's worth remembering, of course, that people of colour have been coming to, and settling in, these islands since pre-Roman times, of their own accord.

I should also note that the 'peak' years for racism in the UK were the 60s and 70s, following mass migrations (encouraged by the government) from the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent. Nowadays, people grumble more about Rumanians and Poles which (I am given to understand) is 'white on white' and therefore not racism.

But politically, what it boils down to is that people of colour are expected to vote according to their social class, not their ethnicity. Nobody thinks that a working class Black person here would vote the same way as a middle-class or upper middle-class Black person. Then again, our elections are usually about issues, not personalities -neither Rishi Sunak nor Sir Keir Starmer actually has a personality that I've noticed! So notions such as 'the Black vote' are nonsensical here.