This Parliament sees an increase in the number of MPs from ethnic minority backgrounds from 14 to 27. This is still unrepresentative of the UK population but is a considerable improvement on recent years.

In numbers

8 per cent of the UK is of a black or minority ethnic (BME) background

4.6 per cent of the 2010 intake has a BME background

2 per cent of the 1997 intake had a BME background

11 Conservative MPs have a BME background

13 Labour MPs have a BME background

0 Liberal Democrats have a BME background

Dr. Krishna Sarda, CEO of the Ethnic Minority Foundation (EMF), welcomed the increase in the number of MPs from BME backgrounds. He told Total Politics: “It represents significant progress comparatively to 2005. Since 1997 there have been a number of key milestones for BME communities in politics.”

Dr Sarda credits the Labour Party for the initial progress made, pointing to a number of firsts since 1997: the first Muslim MP, first black cabinet minister, first black leader of the Lords, first black and female Attorney General, first Asian and Muslim minister to attend cabinet, first Asian minister in the Commons and first black female minister in the Commons.

There are a number of firsts in this Parliament too, including the election of the first female Muslim MPs (three, and all Labour), the first black female Conservative MP (Helen Grant), the first Asian female Conservative MP (Priti Patel) and the first African female MP (Labour’s Chinyelu Onwurah).

However Dr Sarda attributes the large increase in 2010 to the Conservatives and David Cameron’s efforts to “de-toxify” the Conservative brand by actively promoting diversity. The number of Conservative MPs from BME backgrounds has increased to 13 from 2 in 2005.

BME communities do remain under-represented and the EMF point to a number of influencing factors. These include a lack of diversity at the top of the “hierarchy of sub-groupings” of political parties and the perception that a “BME advisor can only advise on BME issues”.

The EMF are in the early stages of scoping the viability of a new ‘Academy for Political Office’ to build capacity for those from under-privilege and under-represented backgrounds to break into politics. If changes in the past ten years are anything to go by, this kind of assertive action may well see the ethnic balance of the House of Commons become more accurate in its representation, sooner rather than later.