The Representation Gap

In time for the launch of our Unequal Democracies project, FES Democracy of the Future and FES London cooperate with British leading progressive think tank Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)to host an in-person panel event about representation in the UK parliament. At this event, FES Democracy of the Future researcher Michael Jennewein will present the key findings of our freshly published report Who does (not) have a seat in Parliament" - a comparative study covering the social composition of national parliaments in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Poland and Turkey.

The event is headlined by Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, who will give a keynote address. This will be followed by a panel discussion, with speakers including Professor Rainbow Murray, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London, Michael Jennewein, and Lisa Eigbadon, co-founder of Grassroots Graduates and youth advisor at Rekindle School.

As recent political scandals in the UK push issues relating to political representation up the agenda, the discussin will elvolve around:

• How representative is the House of Commons of UK society?

• Are recent improvements in gender and minority ethnic representation cause for celebration? Or is there more than meets the eye?

• Why is there a growing ‘representation gap’ with regard to social class? What are the implications for policy and politics?

• How does political representation in the UK compare to other representative democracies?

• How can we improve the representativeness of parliament?

Attendees get the chance to grab a free copy of our new report at the event.

This event is taking place on Monday 4 July from 5 - 6.30pm at Convocation Hall, Church House, Westminster, Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3AZ.

This event will be recored and made available online shortly afterwards.

Register here to attend in person: 
https://www.ippr.org/event/the-representation-gap