Words cannot express how happy I am at the victory of Barack Obama in the US Presidential election last week.  He is a huge inspriation and I think he has all the makings of one of the finest presidents that country has seen.  Some of my personal thoughts on his election are below.

I have never seen anything like it. I had the honour of presenting prizes at Dunraven secondary school in Streatham last week, a school whose most famous ex pupil is supermodel and Streatham native, Naomi Campbell. For all her alleged faults, Campbell is an icon, but in the course of the evening the school principal mentioned a very different model - Present Elect Barack Obama.

Young people are supposedly so switched off and removed from politics that many don’t bother to vote if they can. But the instant reaction of those present at the prize-giving to the mere mention of Obama’s name was loud cheers and applause - and he is not even their president! When Labour came to power in 1997, can you imagine Tony Blair getting the same kind of response? I think not.

Everyone is asking - could we see an Obama figure in the UK? Undoubtedly Obama’s multiethnic heritage is part of his appeal. There is something in his background that we can all relate to and grab hold of. Here we have seen great progress on ethnic minority representation this last decade with the appointment of the first ever ethnic minority ministers to the Labour government - there were none before, there are 7 now. The numbers of ethnic minority MPs is projected to rise to 25 in the next parliament, up from 9 in 1998.

And though we still have a long way to go in turning Parliament into a place that looks like Britain of the 2000s rather than the 1950s, the elevation of the junior Senator from Illinois to the most powerful office on the planet surely makes further strides more, not less, likely.

Some ask whether I think my unusual name could hinder me when I ask the good people of Streatham to put a cross by my name at the next General Election - well I need not worry if someone called “Barack Hussein Obama” can make it to the White House. More importantly, many more young people who share Obama’s heritage are saying “yes I can” and taking a serious look at getting involved.

The obstacles for today’s new politicians of colour are not what they were for their parents’ generation. The army of Obama fans enthused by what they have seen in this year’s presidential election will be demanding a place at the top table. Expect to see many more putting themselves forward to be local councillors, assembly members and members of parliament in the near future.

However those who focus on Obama’s race somewhat miss the point. Yes, eight years of one of the worst US presidents in history and an economy in turmoil helped, but it was Obama’s ability to inspire and his determination to move away from the harsh, shrill, “punch and judy” politics of yesterday, to a politics of change, hope and working together across different lines which clinched it in my view. That is the model that we should all be seeking to follow.