There was an unmistakable sound following the appointment yesterday of Rishi Sunak as Britain’s new Prime Minister.

Above all the chatter about the rights and wrongs of having a third Prime Minister in as money months, there was the clearly audible shattering of a glass ceiling.

For the first time in its history, Britain has a person of colour and its first Hindu in No 10 (although not the first from an ethnic minority – that honour belongs to the Jewish former Shrewsbury MP Benjamin Disraeli). 

Whatever your politics and thoughts about his less than conventional journey to the top, there is no doubt that this is a huge moment in the social history of this country.

That he has enjoyed a hugely privileged upbringing and is also potentially the richest MP in history will not necessarily help him in the relatability stakes but what is clear is that some of the racial, ethnic and religious prejudice that has for so long been a bar to individual advancement has taken a mighty hit. 

There will be many people who grew up in the UK and have experienced the challenges of racism and prejudice who would not have thought it possible that the son of Indian immigrants could one day go on to become Prime Minister.

And yet today we have a Hindu Prime Minister, a Christian King, a Muslim Mayor of London and (reshuffle permitting), a Jewish Home Secretary. 

For all of us that celebrate the power of our differences, this is a moment to be immensely proud although we cannot escape the harsh reality that in the increasingly diverse society in which we live, ethnic minorities remain woefully under-represented in many walks of life, particularly in positions of power and influence.

In some areas, such as TV and film, we have seen major steps forward in terms of diversity in recent years, although it has not been a painless transition to a more representative approach as the ugly controversy over Disney’s recent casting of black actress Halle Bailey as Ariel in the Little Mermaid clearly showed.

Nevertheless, from the success of Hollywood blockbusters such as Black Panther to sitcoms like Citizen Khan, their appeal to audiences of all colours and denominations, are evidence that we have come a long way since the days of Alf Garnett and Til Death us do Part.

However, while there have been sufficiently large strides to have enabled the UK to have its first British Asian Prime Minister, there remains work to do, particularly in the world of business.

According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), around 13 per cent of the UK’s working-age population is non-white and yet according to a recent study by Green Park, just 11 top tier roles – CEO, CFO and chair – in the FTSE 100 are currently filled with individuals from an ethnic minority background.

The positive news is that 97 of the FTSE 100 companies have committed to improving diversity with the vast majority of FTSE 100 companies now having at least one board member from an ethnic minority background – clearly not enough but certainly a positive step in the right direction.

As we have seen in the case of female representation in senior roles in business, a concerted drive to improve the gender mix in the boardroom in recent years has seen the number of female CEOs and managing directors in all businesses rise from 15% to 26% between 2019 and 2021 according to a study by Grant Thornton.

This has seen the Fortune Global 500 report an all time high of 23 female CEOs in 2021, including six women of colour and so while middle aged white men still dominate the boardroom, there is clearly a different picture emerging.

Whether the election of Rishi Sunak will be the UK’s ‘Obama moment’, only time will tell, and it would certainly be wrong to believe that the election of Barack Obama ushered in a new era of racial harmony in the US, in fact far from it.

But in the 12 years since his election as the US’s first black President, the number of black members of Congress has risen to 57 or 13%, roughly in line with the overall US population, not to mention the election of the Kamala Harris as not only the first woman but also the first person of Indian-American and Asian-American descent to the role of Vice President. 

So let us hope that this watershed moment in our history ushers in an era where increasingly there is equality of opportunity for all and everybody is able to dream, regardless of where their parents or grandparents may have been born.