Lists of ethnic minority politicians in the United Kingdom
These are lists of people who belong to non-European ethnic minorities and have been elected as Members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, European Union, and other British devolved assemblies and also Members of the non-elected House of Lords.
In 2001, Muhammad Anwar of Warwick University wrote a paper titled "The participation of ethnic minorities in British politics" that was published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (2001) that in part examined the representation of ethnic minorities at national levels of the British political system.[1] In a chapter in the edited book Race and British Electoral Politics (Routledge, 1998), Andrew Geddes, now Professor of Politics at University of Sheffield, explored the question of "what factors contribute to low levels of ethnic minority representation in the House of Commons".[2]
According to a research paper from House of Commons of the United Kingdom Library, published in 2020, the first ethnic minority MP was elected in 1767[3] – excluding Jews, who a House of Commons Library briefing paper states generally considered themselves to be a religious rather than an ethnic minority in the 18th/19th century.[4] This was James Townsend, a Whig MP who was of one-eighth African ancestry. Townsend later became the first Black Mayor of London in 1772.[5]
Following the election of Anas Sarwar as Scottish Labour Party leader in February 2021, he was described as the first person from an ethnic minority to lead a major British political party,[6] which led to debate about why Jewish party leaders had been excluded from this comparison.[7][8][9] Stephen Bush, the political editor of the New Statesman, wrote that "As far as British law is concerned, the answer is open-and-shut: we count as both an ethnic and a religious grouping for the purpose of equalities and employment law." He stated: "Whether Benjamin Disraeli would feel today that he were an ethnic-minority Briton is unknowable: but we can say with copper-bottomed certainty that he and other ethnically-Jewish Britons faced what we would now recognise as workplace discrimination in addition to the open dissemination of racist tropes about Disraeli and his family by his political opponents."[9] The House of Commons Library briefing paper notes that the first practising Jew to sit in the Commons was Lionel de Rothschild, who was first elected in 1847 but who refused to take the Christian oath that MPs are required to swear. He took his seat once the rules had been changed, allowing him to swear on the Old Testament.[4]
At the 2001 general election, the Parliament of the United Kingdom had twelve ethnic minority Members of Parliament (excluding Jews), and after the 2005 general election; that number increased to fifteen.[10] With the 2010 general election, the Parliament of the United Kingdom reported that the number of ethnic minority MPs increased by nearly three-quarters, to a total of 26.[11] The first three Muslim female MPs were elected.[11] All ethnic minority MPs were either Labour (15) or Conservative (11).[11] In October 2013, the UK Parliament reported that the number of ethnic minority MPs stood at 27, or 4.2% of the total.[12]
After the 2015 general election, 41 MPs from an ethnic minority background were elected to Parliament. 25 of the previous 27 ethnic minority MPs retained their seats and were joined by 16 new ethnic minority MPs. 23 were from the Labour Party, 17 of them were Conservatives and one from the SNP.[13] In the 2017 general election, 52 ethnic minority MPs were elected, including 32 Labour MPs, 19 Conservatives and one Liberal Democrat, according to think tank British Future[14] and the House of Commons Library.[4][15] In the 2019 general election, this figure rose to 66, with 23 Conservative, 41 Labour and two Liberal Democrat non-white MPs.[16]
Based on data from unofficial sources including Operation Black Vote, the House of Commons Library estimated in a research briefing published in September 2022 that there were 55 ethnic minority members of the House of Lords as of September 2022[update]. Of these, 11 were affiliated with the Labour Party, 16 were crossbenchers, 16 were Conservatives, six were Liberal Democrats, and six were unaffiliated.[16]
Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom in the House of Commons[edit]
Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | First office held | Year joined | Ethnicity | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Rishi Sunak[17] | Richmond (Yorks) | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | 2022 | British Indian |
First Ministers of Scotland in the Scottish Parliament[edit]
Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | First office held | Year joined | Ethnicity | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SNP | Humza Yousaf[18] | Glasgow | First Minister of Scotland | 2023 | British Pakistani |
First Ministers of Wales in the Senedd[edit]
Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | First office held | Year joined | Ethnicity | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Vaughan Gething[4][19] | Cardiff South and Penarth | First Minister of Wales | 2024 | Black British/White British (Mixed) |
Members of the Cabinet in the House of Commons[edit]
Ministers in the House of Commons[edit]
Members of Parliament[edit]
Members of the Cabinet in the House of Lords[edit]
Party | Portrait | Name | First office held | Year joined | Ethnicity | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos[95] | Secretary of State for International Development | 2003 | Black British | ||
Labour | Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland[96] | Attorney General for England and Wales (attending Cabinet) | 2007 | Black British | ||
Conservative | Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi[97] | Minister without Portfolio (attending Cabinet) | 2010 | British Pakistani |
Ministers in the House of Lords[edit]
Members of the House of Lords[edit]
Members of the European Parliament[edit]
London Assembly Members[edit]
Scottish Parliament Members[edit]
Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Year elected | Year left | Reason for tenure ending | Ethnicity | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SNP | Bashir Ahmad[136] | Glasgow | 2007 | 2009 | Died in office | British Pakistani | ||
Labour | Hanzala Malik[137] | Glasgow | 2011 | 2016 | Defeated | British Pakistani/White British (Mixed) | ||
SNP | Humza Yousaf[138] | Glasgow | 2011 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||
Labour | Anas Sarwar[137] | Glasgow | 2016 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||
Labour | Foysol Choudhury[139] | Lothian | 2021 | Serving | British Bangladeshi | |||
Conservative | Pam Gosal | West Scotland | 2021 | Serving | British Indian | |||
Conservative | Sandesh Gulhane | Glasgow | 2021 | Serving | British Indian | |||
SNP | Kaukab Stewart[140] | Glasgow | 2021 | Serving | British Pakistani |
Members of the Senedd[edit]
Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Year elected | Year left | Reason for tenure ending | Ethnicity | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plaid Cymru | Mohammad Asghar[4][19] | South Wales East | 2007 | 2009 (Crossed the floor in 2009) | Left Plaid Cymru, joined Conservative Party | British Pakistani | ||
Conservative | South Wales East | 2009 | 2020 | Died in office | ||||
Labour | Vaughan Gething[4][19] | Cardiff South and Penarth | 2011 | Serving | Black British/White British (Mixed) | |||
Conservative | Altaf Hussain[141] | South Wales West | 2015 | 2016 | Defeated | British Indian | ||
2021 | Serving | |||||||
Conservative | Natasha Asghar[142] | South Wales East | 2021 | Serving | British Pakistani |
Northern Irish Assembly Members[edit]
Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Year elected | Year left | Reason for tenure ending | Ethnicity | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alliance | Anna Lo[143] | Belfast South | 2007 | 2016 | Retired | British Chinese Irish Chinese |
Police and Crime Commissioners[edit]
Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Year elected | Year left | Reason for tenure ending | Ethnicity | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Hardyal Dhindsa[144] | Derbyshire | 2016 | 2021 | Defeated | British Indian | ||
Conservative | Festus Akinbusoye[145] | Bedfordshire | 2021 | 2024 | Defeated | Black British | ||
Labour | Nicolle Ndiweni[146] | Derbyshire | 2024 | Incumbent | Black British |
Directly elected mayors[edit]
Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Year elected | Year left | Reason for tenure ending | Ethnicity | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Independent | Lufthar Rahman | Mayor of Tower Hamlets | 2010 | 2014 (Crossed the floor in 2014) | Created Tower Hamlets First | British Bangladeshi | ||
Tower Hamlets First | 2014 | 2015 | Election court found corrupt or illegal practices and removed from office | |||||
Aspire | 2022 | Serving | ||||||
Labour | Sadiq Khan | Mayor of London | 2016 | Serving | British Pakistani[147] | |||
Labour | Marvin Rees | Mayor of Bristol | 2016 | Serving | Black British/White British (Mixed) | |||
Labour | Rokhsana Fiaz | Mayor of Newham | 2018 | Serving | British Pakistani[148] | |||
Labour | Joanne Anderson | Mayor of Liverpool | 2021 | 2023 | Office abolished | Black British |
Notes[edit]
- ^ Muhammad Anwar (2001). "The participation of ethnic minorities in British politics". Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 27 (3): 533–549. doi:10.1080/136918301200266220. S2CID 144867334.
- ^ Geddes, Andrew (1998). "Inequality, political opportunity and ethnic minority parliamentary candidacy". In Saggar, Shamit (ed.). Race and British Electoral Politics. Routledge. pp. 145–172. ISBN 978-1-135-35947-8.
- ^ a b c d e f Lees, Rebecca (28 October 2020). "Who were the first MPs from ethnic minority backgrounds?".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak Audickas, Lukas; Apostolova, Vyara (28 June 2017). Ethnic Minorities in Politics and Public Life (PDF) (Report). Briefing paper. Vol. SN01156. House of Commons Library. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
- ^ "OLIVER, Richard (1735–84), of Fenchurch St., London | History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
- ^ Duffy, Judith (28 February 2021). "Anas Sarwar named Scottish Labour leader – but indyref2 is 'elephant in the room'". The National. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
- ^ Pearce, Tilly (2 March 2021). "BBC's Politics Live under fire as four non-Jews asked if they agree Jewish people are ethnic minority". Metro. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
- ^ Carrell, Severin (1 March 2021). "Scottish Labour leader calls for UK to move closer to single market". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
- ^ a b Bush, Stephen (1 March 2021). "Debating whether Jews are an ethnic minority is a familiar mistake by BBC Politics Live". New Statesman. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Dr Justin Fisher (Brunel University), Prof. Edward Fieldhouse (University of Manchester), Prof. David Denver (Lancaster University), Dr Andrew Russell (University of Manchester), Dr David Cutts (University of Manchester) (25 August 2005). "The General Election 2005 Campaign Analysis; Produced for the Electoral Commission" Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Electoral Commission.
- ^ a b c d "Characteristics of the new House of Commons: key issues for the 2010 Parliament". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015. This article contains material from this source, which is available under the Open Parliament Licence Archived 12 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb John Wood & Richard Cracknell; Social and General Statistics Section (16 October 2013). "Ethnic Minorities in Politics, Government and Public Life" (PDF). Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
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- ^ Wilson, Cherry (11 June 2017). "Election results 2017: The most diverse Parliament yet". BBC News. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
- ^ Audickas, Lukas; Cracknell, Richard; Bellis, Alexander (5 November 2019). Social background of MPs 1979–2017 (PDF) (Report). Briefing paper. Vol. CBP-7483. House of Commons Library. pp. 9–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d Uberoi, Elise; Burton, Matthew. "Ethnic diversity in politics and public life". House of Commons Library. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
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- ^ Nasar Meer (20 May 2011). "What would independence mean for Scotland's racial minorities?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^ a b c Jones, Moya (2014). "Multicultural Challenges to Modern Wales". In R. Garbaye; P. Schnapper (eds.). The Politics of Ethnic Diversity in the British Isles. Springer. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-137-35154-8. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ "Queen Victoria's First Christmas: A Politically Incorrect Jamaican Footnote". 13 January 2017.
- ^ "US genealogist believes owner of Muckross House was descended from slave".
- ^ "History made as Boateng becomes first black cabinet minister". TheGuardian.com. 30 May 2002.
- ^ "Sadiq Khan named first Muslim cabinet minister". 6 June 2009.
- ^ "Witham MP Priti Patel joins Cabinet". 11 May 2015.
- ^ "Alok Sharma becomes Secretary of state for International Development". 25 July 2019.
- ^ "Who's who in Boris Johnson's new Cabinet". 25 July 2019.
- ^ "Rishi Sunak: Murthys delighted as son-in-law enters Boris Johnson's cabinet – Times of India". The Times of India. 28 July 2019.
- ^ Boycott-Owen, Mason (2 March 2021). "Suella Braverman becomes first Cabinet minister to take paid maternity leave". The Telegraph.
- ^ "Kwasi Kwarteng named first black business secretary as Alok Sharma leads United Nations COP26". 9 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Parliamentary career for Nadhim Zahawi – MPs and Lords – UK Parliament".
- ^ Maidment, Jack; Penna, Dominic (7 July 2022). "Boris Johnson resigns: New policies must wait for next leader, says PM". The Telegraph.
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