A different question of proportional representation
The Hansard Society has kindly invited me to a series of fringe meetings they are holding at next month's party conferences under the theme People Like Us.
"Is British society fairly reflected in Parliament?" they will be asking. More specifically, the Hansard Society will be discussing whether women are under-represented in Parliament, why there aren't more MPs from ethnic minorities, and whether we should encourage more young people to stand for Westminster.
These are all highly legitimate questions, of course, though hardly new. And so far as women and ethnic minority MPs are concerned, the trends are certainly up. At the 1987 election there were 41 women MPs (6%), and six MPs classed as "non-white", whereas in 2005 a record 127 women were elected (20%), and 15 people from ethnic minorities. In 1979 the number of women MPs was just 19.
I'm Michael Crick, and I'm Newsnight's political editor. My guiding rule is that in any story there's usually something the politicians would prefer the world not to know. My job is to find that out. Follow me on
