The history of black men in leadership is not a promising one. Barack Obama has so far broken every rule and what I am hoping is that he will break my mother's rule that black men are eventually made to fail. Trevor Phillips

Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, claims Barack Obama could not become prime minister in Britain because of "institutional racism" in the British political system.

Mr Phillips said that while there were just 15 ethnic-minority MPs in the House of Commons, it nonetheless demonstrates that "the problem is not the electorate, the problem is the machine."

"If Barack Obama had lived here I would be very surprised if even somebody as brilliant as him would have been able to break through the institutional stranglehold on power within the Labour Party.

"The parties and the unions and the think-tanks are all very happy to sign up to the general idea of advancing the cause of minorities but in practice they would like somebody else to do the business. It's institutional racism."

Mr Phillips even went as far as to priase The Conservatives for increasing the number of black and Asian candidates.

"They are less democratic. They are happier to impose candidates on the local parties,"
As for Labour, he said:

"the trade unions, the socialist societies, the left intelligentsia, and until you get them to accept that they have got a responsibility to do something it is almost impossible for the party leadership to make progress."

Commenting on the historic US presidential election result, he said:

"This is the first time that a black person has seriously had an opportunity. It is not that you couldn't identify with John F. Kennedy or Bill Clinton, but for most of my lifetime there has not been a possibility for a black politician to be anything other than an insurgent."
Mr Phillips added that:

“One of the things that has irritated the hell out of me in the last 48 hours has been all the stuff about Barack Obama being the first black President. It’s a deep insult to the guy. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime political phenomenon, a rock star, a single political lightning strike. It’s not that he’s black.”

And despite President-elect Mr Obama's clear mandate and cross-race support, Mr Phillips believes the United States of America is still more racially divided than Britain.

"Here it's more about class. It is about culture, a different way of life and speaking. The Muslim community occupies the space that black Americans have in the United States. If you asked British voters whether you could have a Muslim prime minister their mouths would drop open, but not with a black one."

But Mr Phillips said the reason Mr Obama had such wide appeal was because of his bi-racial background.

“The central message Obama has brought is one of reconciliation. He has a black family and a white family, he is comfortable on both sides of the line, he is the President who in his own story tells us we can live together. He is happy in Kenya and Kansas; it puts everyone who tries to define themselves by race to shame.”

Mr Phillips added that Mr Obama will be a role model for millions around the world. However, he added:

"The history of black men in leadership is not a promising one. Barack Obama has so far broken every rule and what I am hoping is that he will break my mother's rule that black men are eventually made to fail."