Minority Ethnic MPs in the UK Parliament since 1987

自1987年以来，英国议会中少数民族议员的数量稳步增加。1987年只有4人当选，2019年的大选中，65名少数族裔背景的议员当选为英国议会议员，在下议院任职。除此之外，7.5%的上议院议员来自少数民族。虽然被认为是英国最多元化的议会，少数民族背景的议员占当年当选议员总数的10%，但英国少数民族议员的学术文献和口述历史并没有反映出这种变化。该项目与莱斯特大学和议会历史学院合作，旨在弥合这一差距。实现这一目标的一种方法是通过口头访谈。采访对象将是英国各政治派别中曾在下议院任职的少数族裔议员。采访将只关注议员们在这段时间里的生活、事业和他们自己的个人经历。然后，这些访谈将被添加到议会历史声音档案中，使它们易于访问并有助于未来的研究。尽管1987年被认为是第一批少数民族国会议员被选入英国议会的一年，但学术文章和政治人口普查得出的结论是，第一位少数民族国会议员被认为是1767年在康沃尔郡西卢选区任职的辉格党的詹姆斯·汤森。汤森德只是众多关注种族和民族观念和定义变化的人中的一个。因此，访谈加上正在进行的研究将为该项目奠定基础，该项目旨在探索当代英国社会和政治史，大英帝国，种族，民族（以及围绕此的定义）和政治制度发展的更广泛主题。

Since 1987, the number of minority ethnic MPs in UK parliament has steadily increased. With just four being elected in 1987, the 2019 general election saw 65 MPs from minority ethnic backgrounds being elected into UK Parliament, serving in the House of Commons. Alongside this, 7.5% of those who made up the House of Lords were from minority ethnic groups. Although considered to be Britain's most diverse parliament with MPs from minority ethnic backgrounds constituting 10% of the overall MPs elected that year, scholarly literature and oral histories on minority ethnic MPs as a whole in the UK does not reflect this change. The project, working in partnership with the University of Leicester and History of Parliament will aim to bridge this gap. One way which this will be achieved through oral interviews. The interviews will take place with minority ethnic MPs across the political spectrum in the UK who have served in the House of Commons. The interviews will solely focus on the MPs lives, careers, and their own personal experiences throughout this time. These interviews will then be added to the History of Parliament sound archives to make them easily accessible and to contribute to future research. Although 1987 is considered the year the first minority ethnic MPs were elected to UK Parliament, scholarly articles and political censuses have concluded that the first MP from a minority ethnic group was considered to be James Townshend of the Whig Party, serving as the West Looe constituency in Cornwall in 1767. Townshend is just one example of many who encompass the change in ideas and definitions around race and ethnicity. As a result, the interviews coupled with the research taking place will lay the foundations for the project which will aim to explore wider themes of Contemporary British Social and Political History, the British Empire, Race, Ethnicity (and the definitions around this) and the development of political institutions.