Black History Month: the politics of racial representation

Thirty-one years ago, if you’d looked down from the House of Commons visitors’ gallery at the people on the green benches below, they’d have all – without exception – have been white.

Today 52 of 650 MPs are from a black or minority ethnic background. That’s 8%. Better than it was, but when you consider that 14% of the UK population are of non-white heritage, some say there’s still a long way to go before full representation is achieved.