Social background of Members of Parliament 1979-2019

This briefing paper provides data on the gender, age, ethnicity and educational backgrounds of Members of Parliament elected at the 2019 General Election and how this has changed over time.

Gender

There were 220 female MPs elected at the 2019 General Election (34% of all MPs). This was the highest ever number and proportion. In 1979 there were 19 women MPs, 3% of the total.

Age

Since 1979, the average age of MPs has remained around 50 years.  49% of MPs elected in 2019 were aged over 50. Members aged 18-29 and those over 70 each represented 3% of the total. As of March 2020, comprehensive information about age was not available most of the MPs who were newly elected in 2019, see section 3 for details.

Ethnicity

In 2019, 65 MPs were from non-white backgrounds, 10% of the total. This was an increase of 25% compared to 52 in 2017. In contrast, there were 4 ethnic minority MPs elected in 1987. Currently, around 15% of the UK population is from a non-white background.

Education

Conservative MPs elected at the 2019 General Election were the most likely to have attended a fee-paying school: 41% compared to 30% Liberal Democrat, 14% Labour and 7% SNP, according to data published by the Sutton Trust.

Parliamentary experience

140 MPs elected in 2019 had no previous Parliamentary experience (22%). 495 (76%) had been MPs in the 2017-19 Parliament and 15 were re-elected having served as MPs further in the past.