Institute for Public Policy Research study also shows proportion of working-class Labour MPs has halved since 1980s
Just 7% of all MPs can be considered working class, the IPPR says.Only about 1% of the current crop of Tory MPs entered parliament from a working-class job, according to new research that suggests a growing “representation gap” in parliament.
The proportion of Conservative MPs with working-class job backgrounds has been well below 5% for at least the past 50 years. However, 28% of Labour MPs came from working-class jobs after the 1987 election – the proportion has since halved. The IPPR identified two main factors driving the decline. It pointed to the fact that trade unions were no longer as able as they were in the past to provide a route into politics for working-class candidates. Second, so much time and money is now required to become a political candidate that it has become “an insurmountable obstacle” for some interested in pursuing a career as an MP. It said there was effectively a “class ceiling”.
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