Muslims in Parliament

The importance of Muslim parliamentary representation is two-fold. First, it is based on the assumption that, as well as good minority representation in general, it increases the quality of democracy and contributes to the country’s well-being by enhancing political participation, reducing socio-political exclusion, and introduce as role models for British Muslims (Phillips 1995; Saward 2011). Secondly, it improves awareness of the political elite about the society’s trivia and people’s views and attitudes, whereby Muslim MPs deliver their expertise and insights on issues of concern for the Muslim minority (Saalfeld and Kyriakopoulou 2011). These ideas have been endorsed by all the main British parties and political institutions. The House of Commons, for instance, regularly publishes reports on the state of ethnic and religious representation in the Chamber and encourages the parties to facilitate access to Parliament for candidates from minority, including Muslim, backgrounds in order to ensure effectiveness and fairness of the House as a representative body (e.g. House of Commons 2009: 17–21). Responding to the call for widening representation, the main political parties pledge to bring politicians from diverse backgrounds to Parliament in their manifestos and candidate recruitment strategies (e.g. Labour Party 2010: 4; Conservative Party 2010: 2; Durose et al. 2011). As a result, the number of Members of Parliament from Muslim backgrounds ¹ has grown from one in 1997 to nine elected at the 2010 General Election (Muslim Vote 2010).