Candidates and MPs: A Brand New Commons?

The 2024 election made big changes to the composition of the House of Commons. A record 350 MPs departed through defeat (218) or retirement (132); a record 335 MPs arrived for the first time; a record 4,515 candidates stood for election; and more women and ethnic minority MPs were returned to Parliament than ever before. As a result, the ethnic diversity of the Commons now roughly matches the nation it represents, but the gender gap, although narrowed, has not been eliminated. The ranks of Oxbridge and independent schools graduates continue to shrink, but the political class continues to swell, with more MPs than ever drawn from those already working in politics, including many who have done no other type of work. And while MPs are more likely than ever to have graduated from the comprehensive state schools most voters also attend, the legislative class is more than ever a class of university graduates and middle-class professionals. With all the largest parties recruiting ever more heavily from the pool of graduates working in politics-adjacent professions, politics risks becoming a closed ecosystem, as fewer legislators than ever can draw on experiences from careers developed elsewhere.