Sunday, 29 November 2020

How Representative is the UK Cabinet Feb 2020

 In February 2020 Boris Johnson had a substantial Commons majority, which allowed him to reshuffle his Cabinet. While it had been rumoured that it would promote talented women and bring in MPs from the north, in reality this has not happened.

Diversity: Rishi Sunak replaced Sajid Javid as Chancellor of the Exchequer, so keeping the diversity level.

Education: But whereas Javid, a bus driver's son went to a state school, Sunak was head boy at elite public school Winchester. Across the Cabinet, state-school educated numbers dropped from 7 to just 5 out of 22 seats. In the real world, 93% of Britons go to state schools.

Gender: The new Cabinet has proportionally fewer women than his first, with less than a quarter of the seats.

Geography: Although 15 of 21 members sit for areas outside the home counties, only three have seats in the north of England, while Sunak's Richmond seat has been Conservative since 1910.

Source: Article How representative is Boris Johnson's new cabinet? in the Guardian, 14 Feb 2020