After making the thread on racism in the entertainment industry, I thought I'd move on to politics. (I'm not attacking Pakistanis but I question why there are visibly so many Pakistanis in politics.)
Ratio of MPs in Commons to Population of Ethnic Minority - + Lords
Key: No. of MPs (Population / Ratio Figure) - + Lords (Combined Houses Ratio)
Bangladesh: 3 ( 451,529 / 1:150,510) - +2 (1:90306)
Black: 15 (2,200,000/1:146,666)* - + 20 (1:62857)
India: 10 (1,451,862 / 1:145,186) - + 12 (1:65994)
Pakistan: 9 (1,174,983 / 1:130,554) - + 7 (1:73436)
Total Population: 650 (64,000,000/1:92,000)* - + 775 (1:45000)
Sri Lanka [Sinhalese]: 1 (?? / likely to be very overrepresented) - +0
No British Asian ethnic group is as well represented as the total population. Is this a sign of racism in British politics against Indians, or racism among the general population?
The electoral method used in the United Kingdom makes it harder for ethnic minorities to proportionately elect members. This is most likely why Pakistanis are the best represented ethnic minority in the House of Commons.
When Lords are included, Blacks become the best represented ethnic minority, while Bangladeshis become the worst represented minority.
1) Even if the electoral method used in the UK makes it harder for ethnic minorities to elect MPs themselves, why are they not elected by the general public?
2) Why does the government not elect ethnic minority MPs to the House of Lords to compensate for the lack of ethnic minority MPs.
3) How prominent are ethnic minority politicians in other areas of Government?
Common knowledge about education attainment in Britain dictates that there should be more Indian politicians than Pakistani politicians in government. But statistics show that Pakistanis are best represented ethnic minority!
This one always gets me. Pakistanis are usually one of the worst performing ethnicities in the United Kingdom, and are even going backwards statistically.
Why are they so prominent in British politics?
My instinct tells me that there should be more South Indians than Pakistanis. I can understand there being more North Indians in politics, but the way Pakistanis usually develop in the UK makes me wonder why they are the best represented ethnic minority!
There appear to be very few South Indian politicians in government. Is this a sign of racism in British politics or do other factors play a role?
Statistics do not exist on the number of South Indians in the United Kingdom, and most organisations frown on the collection of such data.
But one ethnicity that we do have statistics for is Tamils. There are approximately 200,000 Tamils in the United Kingdom, meaning that government should have at least two Tamil MPs. Many Tamils can be found in government at the local council level but there are zero Tamils in Parliament.
Various reasons given for the lack of Tamil MPs include:
- Tamils are far smaller in number in comparison to the other South Asian groups.
- Most Tamils have immigrated more recently while other ethnic minority groups have had a similar sized presence in the UK for a longer time. Compared to other ethnic minority groups, only a small number of Tamils are third generation.
- Tamils are more geographically spread out, while other ethnic groups are concentrated in localities (i.e. Pakistanis in East London). This affects the ability of Tamils to elect an MP to Parliament.
- Politics is viewed as being 'dirty' and 'corrupt' in Tamil culture and is considered undesirable as a job. (I think a similar situation exists throughout South Indian culture)
Keeping the history of British racism in politics in mind, I think this is something that needs to be looked into. Why are there so few South Indians in politics?
India is as ethnically diverse as the European Union. Tamil Nadu is as culturally distant from Pakistan, as the France is from Turkey. Tamils are also very introverted, in a similar manner to how France tends to like being independent.
*I am unsure whether British Asian statistics include House of Lords, and the Black statistic is a very rough estimate.