ABSTRACT
Historically, British society has been relatively homogeneous, but in the post-war era substantial migration has converted it into a multicultural and multiracial society. The political representation of ethnic minorities1 is an important new development in British politics. A transition has been taking place among ethnic minorities from a primarily protest mode of participation to one of engagement in mainstream politics and institutions (Goulbourne 1990:1). For the first time since the early 1900s, several members of ethnic minority groups were elected to Parliament in the 1987 General Elections, and their numbers increased in 1992 and in 1997. In addition, the number of ethnic minority local councillors rose slowly over the course of the 1980s. Following the May 1990 local elections, at least 328 members of ethnic minority groups were serving on local councils throughout Britain, many for the first time. These newly-elected councillors supply the data for my research.2
