Enoch Powell gets his just desserts

Conservative Party politician John Enoch Powell, who died in 1998, is best remembered for a speech in which he predicted racial tension within the United Kingdom would leave streets 'like the River Tiber foaming in blood'.

Sadly for Powell, who became an icon for British racists, the Conservatives have now selected an Indian businesswoman to contest the Wolverhampton constituency that he represented for 24 long years.

In fact 44 year-old Sandip Verma is just the kind of 'coloured immigrant' who would have set the alarm bells ringing for Powell and other extreme right-wing politicians of his generation.

In a sign of how the times have changed, the Conservative Association in Wolverhampton South West described its choice as "a candidate for our times".

This follows a call by Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith for party associations to select more women and ethnic minority candidates in a bid to make his parliamentary party more representative of modern Britain.

The Wolverhampton South West seat is currently held by a member of the ruling Labour Party who has a majority of only 3,487, making it a vulnerable target for the Conservatives.

After Verma was selected, association chairman Andrew Wynne commented, "We are delighted with the result. We have gone through a rigorous, intensive and thorough process. At all times it has been fair, transparent and balanced. Throughout, merit has been our only criterion. Sandy wowed the membership. In the coming months I am sure she will have the same effect on the constituency as a whole."