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The Progressive Policy Think Tank
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IPPR North IPPR Scotland

Closing the gap: Parliament, representation and the working class

Recent political scandals in Westminster have once again put the issue of trust in politicians at the top of the agenda.

While MPs have become more representative in terms of gender, ethnicity and sexuality in recent years, there is a large and growing ‘representation gap’ on class.

This ‘class ceiling’ is not driven by discrimination against working class candidates by voters, but by a lack of supply of candidates by parties. Representation in politics matters because it has an impact on the policy decisions taken and the voting behaviour of citizens.

In this report we argue that political parties and government should take action to close the ‘representation gap’.

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