Political class will dominate new Commons
THE House of Commons is set to be less male and less pale after this election, but there will be more MPs who have never had a real job outside politics. A record number of women have been selected for ‘safe’ or ‘winnable’ seats by both the Conservatives and Labour. There are expected to be close to 200 women in 2015 – up from 148 five years ago.
The last parliament had only 27 black and minority ethnic (BME) MPs, but that number is also expected to increase by 60 per cent to 44.
New MPs are more likely to be from the ‘political class’ who have never had a job apart from working for a political party, as an MP’s researcher, or for a think-tank or a trade union.
Labour leader Ed Miliband has also overseen a dramatic rise in the number of Labour candidates from private schools.
In Scotland, fewer than three in ten candidates standing for the five largest parties are female and the SNP’s list of would-be MPs is only 36 per cent female.
But many are in seats expected to turn yellow on the electoral map, including one-time Bollywood star and soap actress Tasmina Ahmed- Sheikh in Ochil and South Perthshire, Alex Salmond’s former office manager Hannah Bardell in Livingston, and Women for Independe nce co - f ounder Natalie McGarry in Glasgow East.
Other new faces who could appear on the green benches include comedy boss Tommy Sheppard, the SNP’s candidate for Edinburgh East, and former Home and Away actress Deidre Brock, in Edinburgh North and Leith.
In North-East Fife, Stephen Gethins, an ex-special adviser to Mr Salmond, is one of many candidates who have spent much of their lives in politics.
Research by BBC Scotland found that 27 per cent of Lib Dem candidates north of the Border are f emale, while Labour is on 26 per cent and the Tories on 15 per cent. Of the 263 candidates selected by the five parties, 73 are women.
Some 19 per cent of new Labour candidates with a reasonable chance of winning across the UK were privately educated, according to analysis by the Sutton Trust – almost three times the level in the general population.
Tory candidates were more likely to have been to Oxbridge – 28 per cent compared to 18 per cent for Labour.
One Oxford-educated establ i shment candidate who is likely to win a seat is Keir Starmer, the former Director of Public Prosecutions. He was expected to hold the Labour seat of Holborn and St Pancras against Green leader Natalie Bennett. Overall, 31 per cent of new candidates with the possibility of winning received a private education – down slightly on the 33 per cent total in the present House of Commons.
By contrast, the figure for the population as a whole is only 7 per cent.
Among those who have been picked for target seats are Ranil Jayawardena, whose Ukip rival for the Hampshire North East seat said he wanted to shoot him between the eyes. Mr Jayawardena is expected to hold the safe Tory seat.
Nusrat Ghani was selected by the Tories in one of the largest open primaries for the safe seat of Wealden. The former City and BBC worker has notched up more than 20 years as a party activist. Other BME candidates selected for winnable Tory seats are Alan Mak (Havant), Rishi Sunak (Richmond) and Seema Kennedy (South Ribble).
A number of SNP candidates have vowed to fight for another referendum and the break-up of the UK from the Commons benches.
George Kerevan, favourite to win the East Lothian seat for the Nationalists, said recently: ‘A hung parliament could mean all-night sittings and media scrutiny, but I would relish the chance to take Scotland’s fight to the enemy camp.’
The SNP candidate for Edinburgh South was recently unmasked as an internet troll.
Using the pseudonym ‘Paco McSheepie’, Neil Hay provided a link to a spoof article that l abelled supporters of the Union as ‘quislings’.
Many never had a real job