MINISTERS have been warned that ethnic diversity in Parliament is on course to “stall” after it was revealed that there has been a significant drop in the number of candidates selected from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) for the next general election.
Both the Conservatives and Labour Party are selecting candidates at less than half the rate seen in the last two elections, according to research conducted by leading integration thinktank British Future. “The diversity of Parliament, while it still lags behind that of our society, has been increasing rapidly in recent elections. But it looks set to still now,” said Sunder Katwala, director of British Future.
“Black, Asian and mixed race candidates are being selected at less than half the rate seen in the last two elections. For the first time, the new intakes of Labour and Tory MPs will be less diverse than the parliamentary parties that they join.”
The research has found that the Conservative Party has selected just two candidates from a BAME background for their 120 most ‘winnable’ seats – Mohamed Y Ali in Cardiff North and Darren Henry in Broxtowe.
The Tories current BAME selection rate of two per cent compares to a six per cent se
lection rate in 2017.
Labour has seven BAME candidates in its 119 most ‘winnable’ seats. Their selection rate of six per cent compares to 15 per cent in the 2017 general election.
The Liberal Democrats have increased the number of candidates from a minority background with seven standing in targeted seats compared to just one selected in 2017. Their numbers have improved with the addition of Sam Gyimah and Chuka Umunna, who defected from the Tories and Labour Party.
The Parliament elected in 2017 was hailed as the ‘most diverse ever’, with 52 non
white parliamentarians elected, compared to 41 in the previous parliament.
In Sajid Javid, Priti Patel, Alok Sharma and James Cleverly, the UK has one of the
most diverse cabinet ever assembled. However, Katwala has stressed that unless parties change their selection process for the remaining available seats, diversity in UK politics faces going backwards.
“In an increasingly diverse Britain, we would expect the rate at which ethnic minority
candidates are selected to be rising, not falling. With these selection rates, the number of
ethnic minority MPs would stall – or even go backwards for the first time since the first
postwar ethnic minorityMPs were elected in 1987,” said Katwala. “There is still time to turn this around, with candidates yet to be selected in many target seats.”
Meanwhile, a Conservative Party spokesperson said: “The selection of candidates remains ongoing.”
Piyush Goyal and Jonathan Reynolds tour the Royal Opera House in London
