British Chinese people are more likely to vote Conservative at this year’s general election, new analysis shows. Research carried out by YouGov in which they surveyed 4,000 ethnic minority voters showed that the Conservatives have “won over Britain’s Chinese community but no others.” The Conservatives currently have a 22-point lead above any other Party when it comes to support from them, according to The Times.

The Conservative Friends of the Chinese is the UK’s largest ethnic minority group associated with a political party with regular campaigns and meetings from top profile politicians and businesspeople from within the Conservative community. With this tightly knit group that focuses on championing the ideas the Chinese community want to see be realised in Britain combined with the traditional values the Conservative Party, it’s no wonder the Conservatives have made so much progress in winning over their support.

Director of CFoC and parliamentary candidate for Liverpool Riverside Jackson Ng Says: “Having spoken to many British Chinese over the last few months about the General Election, I am not surprised to hear that many Chinese are more likely to want to vote and support the Conservatives. Some mentioned about the similar values that the community shares with the party; such as hard work, family, education and entrepreneurship. Others point to the track record that the Conservatives have in turning around our economy or the strong relationship with China over the past few years. The work that the Conservative Party has put into the Chinese community over the past years can be recognised by the sheer number of community engagements they have had to listen to the community – this get noticed by British Chinese voters.”

Nee Hao spoke to a number of British Chinese people about who they would be voting for this May and why. 

Yvonne Cherng, a university student, said she had taken a lot of time to fully understand each Parties policies and weigh up the pros and cons before making an informed decision. “Since this is my first time being able to vote, I want to go in with an open, unbiased mind,” she told us. “In the end I feel Conservative is the most suitable option. They have really done a lot for this country since they took over and I don’t think going back to Labour – probably their closest rivals – will do much good for us.”

Yen-li Ho, a business entrepreneur, says that the Conservatives have helped her set up her first business, which has boomed since then and believes keeping them in power will help others that were in the same situation as her. “They’ve helped improve the wealth of and standard of living for many people, including myself. I don’t think any other Party could achieve the same amount of economic stability they have allowed the UK to have nor keep it this way.”

Yen-li also believes other Chinese people should vote for them too, saying that with Chinese Britons being the most successful ethnic minority when it comes to education, employment and economics, the Conservative manifesto sits in their favour and would benefit them the most. “I think if more Chinese Britons vote then we can really make a difference. The Tories have done so much for us and they can continue to do more with our help,” she says. “It’ll be a shame to see those ties we’ve forged with them over the years not pay off.”

Lee Yip says that he actually thinks the Green Party have the most interesting manifesto, “I would vote for Green because I do like many of the ideas they have,” he tells us, “I hope many of them can be fulfilled – some of them would take millions of pounds and maybe decades to achieve. The Greens really do seem to have the most balanced manifesto of all the Parties though.”

Mike Chu  has been a Conservative supporter for many years and is also a member of the CFOC. He believes that as a part of Britain’s Chinese community, it’s vital to side with the Party that connects the best with you as a person. “They are really the only Party to get actively involved with the Chinese population and allow us to get actively involved with them,” he says. “In fact, no other Party has used their resources to reach out to any specific ethnic group but simply focus more on other societal divides instead.” He also says the ideals the Conservatives uphold are similar to Chinese ideals and traditions such as working hard to achieve goals, good education and economic improvement.

Mike adds that among his non-Chinese friendship groups, hardly anyone is voting for the Tories, with many of them siding more with Labour. He also says that some of them think he is “rich and posh” so that’s why he supports them. “I’d say I’m middle class, educated and live comfortably but by am no means rich or posh,” he says in defense. “I simply believe the Tories are not only the most suitable and realistic Party to run the country, but also genuinely have the Chinese people’s interests in mind too.”

Jade Tang, a sixth form student at college, is currently undecided but is torn between Labour and Conservative. “I think both have excellent points of action that they want to carry out but I don’t agree with all of them,” she says. “I like Labour’s stance on education and the NHS but the Conservatives view on the economy cannot be ignored.”

In a contrasting view to others, Dan Li says that he actually thinks the Lib Dems have the best manifesto. “Nick Clegg comes across as someone who’d be a great PM,” he says bluntly.