This was not King's dream (Telegraph, UK)

Debating whether Britain could elect a black PM distracts from the true purport of Obama's win.

Since Black Wednesday, when the world woke up to Barack Obama as president of the United States (so why shouldn't black be a positive adjective for once?), arguments have raged over whether Britain could ever have a black leader.

No, says Trevor Phillips, the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission: our political parties are too institutionally racist. Yes, replies Sadiq Khan, the communities minister Sadiq Khan. And stop being so negative, adds Lord Taylor, the black former Tory parliamentary candidate.

Of course, the whole discussion is ridiculous - a year ago all three commentators would have agreed that we'll never have a black US president. What Obama has done so spectacularly is prove that, however improbable an event may be, we can never write it off as impossible.

In an attempt to claim that Obama had an easier ride than a woman might have had, Linda Colley asked on these pages this week: "Would a Barbara Obama, after just one term as senator, have stood a chance of being elected to the Oval Office?" Of course it's not likely. But if you'd asked the same question of a black man a couple of years ago, the notion would have appeared equally preposterous. It depends on the man. And it depends on the woman. After all, Margaret Thatcher herself said she never expected to see a female prime minister in her lifetime - just a couple of years before becoming Conservative leader.

The one thing both Obama and Thatcher have in common is that they are exceptional politicians - reaffirming the saying that if you're black, or a woman, you have to be twice as good as your white or male colleagues to get to the top. Both, by force of their personalities, overthrew their parties' establishment candidates. We will have to wait in hope to see if Obama can leave such an enduring legacy as his British counterpart.

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