Is local government in Britain ready to become more diverse?

While the United States of America has elected its first black president, the latest councillor census shows ethnic minorities are still under-represented in English local government. Emma Parsons asks what lessons can we learn from 'across the pond'?

The latest census of councillors in England by the IDeA shows that just 3.4 per cent are from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. This figure has remained stable since the first census in 1997, when it was also 3.4 per cent. It has varied only slightly over the years – down to 2.7 per cent in 2001, up to 4.1 per cent in 2006.

Election to yield positive political effect

It feels like a long way from our tiny representation of ethnic minorities to the election of a black US president. But could Barack Obama’s success have a positive effect over here?

Simon Woolley, Director of Operation Black Vote (OBV), says:

“Barack Obama undertook a very impressive campaign, inspiring many people that wouldn’t ordinarily engage in politics to register to vote, and to vote and to also be part of the political machine. We can learn from that. It’s a new way of doing politics. I guess at its core it’s telling people to stand up and be counted. We need to be positive natured and we need to get involved. I think people will be very excited about the possibilities that are now open to us.”

The structure and history of American local politics is very different from that in this country. For a start, local government is created and regulated by each individual state, so there are more than 50 different legal and political situations. Many candidates in local elections are not politically affilliated, and there are a high proportion of elected mayors. But in lots of ways the representation of the population in American local government is similar to the UK. US members have an average age of 54 – 59 for councillors here – and are well educated, so it seems reasonable that some insights can be drawn.

There are a lot more ethnic minority role models in American local politics, with a strong history of black mayors. The National Conference of Black Mayors was established in 1974 and represents more than 500 mayors, who in turn represent more than 30 million citizens. BAME representation in city councils doubled between 1979 and 2001, from seven to 13 per cent.

Robin Hambleton, Professor of City Leadership at the University of the West of England and Dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois, Chicago, says:

“In America, ethnic minorities are much bigger. And budding politicians often find great support from their local culture and context – for example the south side of Chicago, where president Obama has had such local success, is mainly black. Somewhere like Leicester in the UK comes closest in demographic terms. In a few years there will be no ethnic majority in that city.”

In America, strong local support from black political campaigners undoubtedly contributed to the successful election of Barack Obama.

Chris Hoene, Director of Policy and Research at the American equivalent of the Local Government Association (LGA), the National League of Cities, says:

“I suspect a case can be made that the strong representation of BAME local officials in parts of the country, particular the urban and metropolitan areas, provided Obama and his team with a lot of potential candidates for leadership.”

Diversity is the key

The main point is to get a diverse set of councillors and for that you need to start with a diverse set of candidates. In this respect England is a long way behind America.

A survey of candidates commissioned by the IDeA last year found that nine out of 10 candidates describe themselves as white British or Irish. Asian British candidates comprised 0.7 per cent, while no other ethnic group exceeded 0.2 per cent.

Three-quarters of candidates agreed that political parties should be responsible for recruiting candidates.

Professor Michael Thrasher, Co-director of the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Elections Centre at the University of Plymouth, who carried out the research, said:

“This year’s survey again emphasises that we need to look closely at the process of candidate recruitment. But responsibility for any change largely lies with the local political parties and their methods for finding new recruits – they need to look beyond their own networks and engage with the wider social community.” 

The councillor census showed that people from BAME backgrounds were less likely than white people to have been asked to stand for election.

Lorna Campbell, a black councillor at the London Borough of Lambeth, says:

“I think Obama possibly will help people get more involved in politics over here. It will empower people to start thinking about getting engaged in the process of local democracy, raise self-esteem and show that you can achieve things in spite of your beginnings.”

She goes on to say it is up to those already involved in local politics to exploit this effect:

“People over here like me who are already engaged have a responsibility to use this effect to engage more people. We need to utilise this to bring them in. The trigger is there now but people don’t have enough information. One of the things I’m concerned about is we have people leaving school who don’t have a proper democratic grounding, and a lot of people from BAME backgrounds feel that no one actually listens to them, and they don’t see any kind of change.”

Councillor Campbell adds there is still a perception among young people from ethnic minorities that they are not starting from a level playing field and that they will have to work harder than their white counterparts with similar qualifications to get anywhere.

“I do think Obama’s progress will have an effect but we have to realise that our history here is very different and we need something which works for us,” she says. “It’s about how we communicate and get information to people. We’ve got to be more diverse in the methods we use. We have to learn to go to people more – in schools and so on – rather than expecting them to come to us. Also, there’s got to be more feedback on how what they say changes things, even if it’s only small. That kind of relationship building has to happen more. We have to be consistent in our message and eventually the tide will turn.”

Video link to interviews about BAME representation in the UK

Here is a short film capturing interviews from people at an inaugaration celebration party for Barack Obama by OBV.

Viewpoints about BAME representation in the UK

Useful links: where to find out more

IDeA's councillor census 2008 – the fifth census of councillors from the LGA and the IDeA was published in January 2009

Ethnic Minority Women Councillors' Taskforce  – on the Government Equalities Office website

Leadership Academy – the IDeA runs a number of leadership development programmes for councillors

The Fawcett Society's Femocracy campaign – for more information on the website about the campaign's work with ethnic minority women on their political empowerment

The Leadership Centre – for more information on the website about helping authorities to understand its capacity for leadership

Operation Black Vote (OBV) – for more information on the website about the only national black generic policy research and networking organisation

This article was published in February 2009