On 5th July 2024, the UK woke up to a new government, with the Labour Party winning a majority. After 13 years under the Conservative government, Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party became the prime minister. The election results have been deemed as record-breaking for more reasons than one. Whilst we have seen the most conservative cabinet ministers lose their seats in history and Liberal Democrats securing their highest seat count since their formation. The most transformative result of the record-breaking election was the representation of the elected MPs.
A record number of 90 ethnic minority MPs have been elected, and the new parliament comes closer than ever before to reflecting the diversity of the electorate, with 13.8% MPs elected and the electorate estimates that 14% of the population are from an ethnic minority background. In the space of 40 years we have gone from zero to nearly 1 in 7 MPs being from an ethnic minority background. While we have seen our first British Asian Prime Minister leave, this election result has embedded a new norm of ethnic diversity in parliament.
Not only is there ethnic diversity in terms of representation, we also for the first time in history have seen the proportion of women elected over 40%. When we take a look at educational backgrounds, the proportion of privately educated MPs is at a record low for the three main parties in over almost 50 years of data with 63% of MPs being educated in comprehensives. When addressing the House of Commons this week, Starmer said he was ‘proud’ of the part Labour has played in improving the diversity of Parliament, adding that the new intake also had the largest cohort of LGBTQ+ MPs of any parliament in the world.
The better representation that this government holds is important since MPS will bring their lived experiences to the debates in the House of Commons. There will be voices from different walks of life, making the debates more nuanced before policies are decided. These lived experiences will be relatable to so many people, and there is hope that the representation will contribute to bridging the gap between ‘parliament and the people’. For our young people this will be significant to witness and relate to in the coming months and years. In our 2023 Youth Voice Census we heard at length that young people do not feel like they belong and a growing narrative of ‘them’ and ‘us’, often leaving them feeling disconnected. We are optimistic that this progress in representation is a step forward in ensuring young people feel like politics is for them through the relatability of MPs and who and what they represent.
