Et tu, supposed progressive political party: 10 reasons why the ‘war on woke’ have got it wrong

There hardly seems to be a day when someone from the political spectrum is not trying to weaponise diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the belief that this is major vote winner.

The latest being the “blue labour” group (yup, me neither until yesterday) – https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jun/02/blue-labour-group-urges-ministers-root-out-dei-win-over-reform-voters

Clearly, a series of very political vested interests have found yet another useful scapegoat for either their own political inadequacies and/or their need to obfuscate one of the key real root causes of many people’s day to day life challenges.  Namely, the huge and continuously widening of wealth between the mega-rich and everyone else.

As with other large whopping fabrications, there are some kernels of truth in the belief that DEI policies are a force for evil.  Because in the race to right the wrongs of yesteryear (which, let’s face it, needed righting), people have got one or two things wrong.  Because that’s what people do;  they make mistakes.  They might have made the wrong hiring decision or the wrong promotion decision.   But, hey, they were probably always making perfect decisions before this DEI thing came along, right?

I would like to really challenge this misrepresentation about DEI being about hiring / promoting people based on personal characteristics.  Because, in the many years I have worked as a senior leader in the corporate world or as a DEI practitioner, that’s not been my experience.  Can I say it has not happened the organisations I have worked with?  No.  But does it happen every single day?  No – and I would challenge anyone to share with me the data that shows that to be true.

In my view, DEI is about creating the environment to enable organisations to build the best, most talented, most engaged and committed, happiest and fulfilled teams that they can.  Companies who get this right are on their way to universal success – happier employees, more satisfied customers and richer shareholders – who wouldn’t want that?

So, here’s the 10 reasons why blue labour and factions like them are off the mark.  If our DEI strategies are well-thought out (and I am sure most are, although I am also sure none are perfect) then:

1. People will feel that they work in an environment that treats them as fairly as possible – irrespective of personal characteristics – DEI will help that
2. Everyone’s opinions will be listened to, not just those with the loudest voices
3. People will have the opportunities to progress their careers at the pace that suits them – not just those that are the pushiest or have the right social connections
4. Irksome administrative tasks will be shared out fairly, not just allocated to those who have the lowest affinity relationship with the manager – this will make everyone in the team feel that someone’s got their back
5. People are enabled to work in a manner that they feel best meets their need to balance their work with other life priorities
6. Everyone will feel that the get the right support from their manager when they make a mistake of are struggling to find the best solutions
7. People will feel appreciated and celebrated when they get hired or promoted rather than being told “you only got the job because………”
8. The organisation will create the psychological safety for people to respectfully challenge when people get things wrong or they don’t agree with the decisions that are being made
9. Everyone will have the opportunity to build social connections and friendships, not just those who like drinking alcohol or playing sport
10. People will be rewarded for not only what they deliver but how they deliver it too

That’s the type of company I would like to work for.  I would like to think most other people would too.