David Cameron Wants Asian UK Prime Minister in his Lifetime to Show 'All Britons Can Achieve'

Conservative Party leader David Cameron has said he wants to see a UK Asian Prime Minister in his lifetime to show that "Britons of all backgrounds can achieve".

The Prime Minister, speaking at the GG2 Leadership Awards where Culture Secretary Sajid Javid was named as one of the most influential Asians in the country, said: "Let us think big about what Britons of all backgrounds can achieve.

"When I hear 'sir', 'your honour' or 'right honourable', I want them to be followed by a British Asian name.

"One day I want to hear that title 'Prime Minister' followed by a British Asian name."

Cameron also warned that there was a "glaring absence" of people from ethnic minorities in top business positions and in other public walks of life, The Telegraph reported.

"The absence is glaring in the boardrooms of the FTSE250, in the Chambers of the Houses of Parliament, football managers' benches, on High Court judges benches, and in our fighter jets, our naval ships, our armed battalions around the world and I am clear this has to change, not to tick boxes, not to fill quotas but to realise our full potential," Cameron said.

"Britain will only be the best it can be when all its people are able to be all that they can be."

Cameron's comments come after Chuka Umunna, the Shadow Business Secretary, announced that a Labour government would hold a review into ethnic diversity in British business leadership.

Mayor of London hopeful David Lammy told IBTimes UK that he welcomed the move and said he thought it was "really important news".

"The major, major reason why London is the mega city and powerhouse that it is in our country, is because of globalisation," the Labour MP said.

"Britain has a phenomenal power because of its past and because of those present in our country to reach into nearly every market and country in the world.

"Therefore, it's hugely important that, not just in political life, not just in key areas of our public sector, it's also important that in business and in industry we see the sort of diversity that is taken for granted in a city like New York or Los Angeles.

"It's worrying that we don't seem to have made the progress that you would expect in such a multi-cultural country that has the history and the context that we do."

A study of the top 10,000 executives in Britain's top firms revealed a deep "diversity deficit".

The research, commissioned by the executive recruitment consultancy Green Park, found that, amongst 289 key executives in the FTSE100 who occupy the posts of chairman, chief executive and chief financial officer, just a dozen were women.

The report also revealed that more than half of FTSE100 companies have no non-white leaders at board level, whether executive or non-executive.

Cameron also warned of 'glaring absence' of people from ethnic minorities in top business positions.