Ethnic Diversity in Local Government, 2018-2019

This project is the first census of all local councillors in all four constitutive nations of the UK, conducted in 2018 and 2019. The local level, so important to our democracy, is too often ignored, and political representation is predominantly studied at the national level. The particular importance of local level to ethnic representation cannot be overstated as it is often the first step in politics and political careers for many minority politicians, and a first line of contact for minority individuals and communities in need of help. This project seeks to fill this research gap and to put local representation at the heart of studying how ethnic minorities are politically represented in Britain. Our research design was developed to study the experiences of ethnic minority local councillors from visibly racialised backgrounds of both genders, to further our understandings of the mechanisms that underpin representational inequalities. We collected the ethnicity, gender and political party of every local councillor in the UK by referring to council websites. We sought to sample our interviewees to reflect a range of non-white backgrounds and political experience as well as gender balance. Interviewees were asked about how they became involved in local politics, their views on the extent of demand for greater diversity in local government and their experiences of running for selection and election for local government as well as serving as a local councillor. The collection consists of interview transcripts with 95 ethnic minority local councillors, candidates and activists, or white British councillors in local government leadership positions.