Can Proportional Representation increase the number of women MPs and MPs from ethnic minorities?
Yes. A political party’s aim is to maximize its representation so, in a single-member constituency, it will try to nominate the one candidate who it considers has the best chance of winning. Most often, this will be a middle class white man and it does not really matter to the party if women and ethnic minorities are under-represented. However, with any form of Proportional Representation (PR), the best way to maximize its representation is to appeal to as many groups as possible by nominating members of those groups. PR would, therefore, encourage parties to nominate more women and members of ethnic minorities. The Single Transferable Vote (STV) form of PR in particular would enable people to vote for women and/or ethnic minority candidates if they wanted more of them in Parliament.
