Indian-origin MP Priti Patel, one of Britain's most prominent ethnic minority women politicians, has defended her father after he decided to stand for polls for a far-right party.
Sushil Patel, 64, is fighting a local council seat in Hertfordshire for the UK Independence Party (UKIP), which is known for its strong anti-immigrant rhetoric and wants the UK out of the European Union.
"No matter what, whatever the outcome of this, he is still my Dad and I still love him. Nothing will change that, not even UKIP," said his 41-year-old daughter, considered one of the poster girls for Prime Minister David Cameron-led Conservative Party's broad-based appeal among Britain's Asian communities.
Priti Patel has been MP of Witham in Essex, south-east of England, since 2010 and following Margaret Thatcher's death last month, she had described the former Tory PM and "principled politician" as an inspiration for her own career in politics.
Her father, however, stresses he has his own political views.
"I am proud of being a UKIP candidate and very proud of the achievements of my daughter who represents the people of Witham in an exemplary fashion. My views are my own and I am astonished that there has been quite so much interest in my candidacy," he said in a statement in reference to his candidacy for the council elections on Thursday.
Amid a media storm around this father-daughter political divide, Sushil Patel briefly announced he was withdrawing his name from the ballot yesterday but was back in the fray hours later.
In an interview with 'The Daily Telegraph' he insisted the UKIP was not a party which tolerated racism. "UKIP is not a racist party - it is daylight coming through the darkness hours of this country� UKIP is not racist - they are trying to make progress," he said.
Patel, who emigrated from east Africa during Idi Amin's dictatorship, added many communities had settled in Britain and if the country "was genuinely racist it would be chaos by now".
The UKIP, under the leadership of Nigel Farage, has been gaining gradual ground among disaffected British voters. The Eurosceptic party holds 11 of the 73 UK seats in the European Parliament and registered a substantial march on the Tories in a recent by-election in March, triggering fears of growing support for its anti-EU and anti-immigrant stance.
The party remains largely populist with a number of its members in the news recently for racist or anti-semitic remarks. As part of its many party pledges, the UKIP has vowed to introduce a five-year freeze on immigration and make overstaying a visa a criminal offence.
