London, May 8, IRNA – The record 149 MPs standing down from parliament has led to the influx of more than a third of the House of Commons being new faces.
But the composition remains more socially exclusive and other-represented by prominent Jewish members, despite a record 27 ethnic minorities being elected, according to an analysis carried out by IRNA.
In all, 231 of the 649 parliamentary members elected are new MPs and include the first three Muslim women, the first Conservative Muslims, the first Iraqi Kurd and first Bengali.
The virtual doubling of MPs from ethnic minority backgrounds led Operation Black Vote (OBV) campaign group to proclaim the elections as “historic^ even though the number falls far short of around 70 needed to make parliament more proportionately representative.
“A record voter turnout from the African, Asian and Caribbean electorate and a record number of candidates winning seats at Westminster will dramatically change how we see our governing class and how it operates,” said OBV director Simon Woolley.
“Greater representation and greater involvement from our communities will undoubtedly enhance our democracy,” Woolley said.
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) also declared the election proved to be a “milestone for Britain’s Muslims, who have confounded critics to take part in our democratic culture in even greater numbers.”
“These elections have ushered in the age of the discerning British Muslim voter. No party and no candidate can take the Muslim vote for granted.” It said after the number of Muslim MPs more than doubled to nine.
MCB secretary general Abdul Bari said the large turnouts reported was a “success for all of us and our democratic culture” but he also cautioned that much more was needed to be done following the outcome of a hung parliament.
“With no decisive result, we hope our leaders will use this opportunity to change and revitalise our politics. We pray that our leaders make wise choices in the formation of a new government for the national interest,” Bari said.
Despite the self-congratulations, an early analysis suggests the new parliament remains socially exclusive, with more MPs than at the last general election being educated privately and being under-represented by only 21 per cent being women.
Successes were also being hailed by the Jewish Chronicle on the number of prominent Jewish MPs being re-elected as well as new faces despite the estimated community of under 300,000 making up less than 0.5 per cent of the country’s population.
These include Foreign Secretary David Miliband, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband, Middle East Minister Ivan Lewis, Culture Minister Margaret Hodge, Speaker John Bercov, shadow chancellor Ivan Lewis and former foreign secretary Michael Rifkind.