LGBT MPs and Candidates in the UK General Election May 2015
Professor Andrew Reynolds, Director
LGBT Representation and Rights Research Initiative
http://globalstudies.unc.edu/lgbt-representation-and-rights-research-initiative/
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (USA)
Has Britain reached a post-homophobic state of grace? Or do the better angels of our
nature just come out at election time? (A rarely stated thesis). While barely
disguised homophobia continues to blight our schools, streets and screens, electoral
politics seems to have reached a point where being a gay or straight barely registers
on the hustings. The last parliament was defined by the fight for marriage equality
and its aftermath – especially David Cameron’s uneasy relationship on the issue
with the rank and file of the Conservative party. There was a fear of backlash. A fear
that Tory voters would punish the party for being too socially liberal and Tory bigwigs would back away from installing candidates who were outside of the
traditional mainstream (In 2010 the watchword had been inclusivity, of the
marginalized and ‘non-traditional’). But these fears proved to be unfounded in 2015.
A quick analysis of last Thursday’s general election suggests that if there were votes
withheld for candidates because they happened to be LGBT they were more than
made up for with votes won because the candidate was LGBT. In some places being
an out gay man or woman seems to have actually helped their personal vote. But the
impression I gained from being on the doorsteps with LGBT candidates, from
multiple parties and in both urban and suburban constituencies, was that, if it
mattered at all, the candidates’ sexual orientation was of little consequence to the
average voter. Crispin Blunt couldn’t recall a single person bringing the issue up in
Reigate while Simon Hughes was mobbed by adoring BME voters unfazed by long
forgotten tabloid headlines. The only reported homophobia was the claim that
Labour canvassers in Finchley and Golders Green had been telling orthodox Jewish
voters that the incumbent Tory MP, Mike Freer, was gay - to queer the pitch as it
were. The race was tight and Ashcroft polls had just put the parties neck and neck.
But on the day Freer increased his vote by 4,000 and enjoyed as comfortable a
majority as in 2010.
The Tories put up more openly gay candidates than any other party. Thirty-nine
men and three women. Of their thirteen out MPs at dissolution twelve stood for reelection and only one lost (Eric Ollerenshaw in Lancaster and Fleetwood) but his
loss was made up for by the election of Ben Howlett in Bath. Howlett overcame a
huge Liberal Democrat majority and was one of the sparkling Tory victories of the
evening. A quick analysis of the 50 races where there were competitive LGBT
candidates shows that Tory LGBT candidates performed considerably better than
their straight colleagues. 72% of them had larger vote share increases than the
national trend, and on average their gains were three times the Tory average.
Labour did not take many seats from the Tories but of the ten they did win, three
were won by LGB candidates. Wes Streeting and Peter Kyle generated two of the
biggest swings to Labour in Ilford North and Hove respectively, and Cat Smith’s
victory in Lancaster and Fleetwood was one of the five head to heads where both
major parties ran out LGB candidates. The nine incumbent Labour lesbian and gay
MPs held on comfortably and the party stood Gerald Jones in the safe seat of
Merthyr Tydfil. In a further slap in the face of stereotypes, Wales and Scotland are
now the UK areas with the highest proportions of out gay MPs. The seven Scots and
three Welsh are not concentrated in the green valleys and shimmering lochs, rather
they were predominantly returned from working class constituencies struggling
with life after mining and industrial decline.
It is true that all four gay and bisexual Liberal Democrat MPs were ousted: David
Laws (Yeovil), Simon Hughes (Bermondsey), Stephen Williams (Bristol West) and
Stephen Gilbert (St. Austell and Newquay) - but they were swept away on a tide
which had nothing to do with their work as constituency MPs. All of them polled
better than they probably should have had any right to do.
The SNP sent shock waves through British politics last Thursday and on that wave
rode in seven new LGB identifying Members of Parliament. They exemplify the
demographic diversity that is LGBTQ Britain: ranging from the high profile
Edinburgh QC Joanna Cherry to the 20 year old Glasgow University politics student
Mhairi Black. It means that the SNP have the highest proportion of LGBT MPs
anywhere in the world. Combined with their five MSPs and one MEP it is quite a
statement.
The thirty-two newly elected British MPs who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual are
indeed a world record. They represent 4.9% of the House, not far off the proportion
of Brits estimated to be LGBT. The total far exceeds the levels of representation in
countries where gay rights have been entrenched for decades: for example, there
are currently twelve out MPs in the Swedish Riksdagen and ten in the Dutch Tweede
Kamer. Alongside the seven SNP MPs, thirteen of the new LGB House of Commons
members are Labour and twelve are Conservatives. Indeed, these numbers are likely
to rise as newly elected MPs feel comfortable enough to come out to the world
beyond their immediate circle of family and friends.
Remarkably there were 155 out LGBT candidates in May 2015 wearing the colours
of all parties and in all parts of the country – forty-two Tories, thirty-nine Lib Dems,
thirty-six Labour, twenty-one Greens, seven SNP, six UKIP, three Plaid Cymru and
one from the Alliance party of Northern Ireland. Every region of the UK had gay
candidates and they were no more concentrated in urban areas than rural. Northern
Ireland was, unsurprisingly, not a happy hunting ground for gay politicians with
only one unsuccessful candidate, but more surprising the East of England was
almost as unwelcoming with only two no-hoper candidates.
While the record number of LGB MPs is a blow for diversity, internally the club is
distinctly not diverse. There were only two lesbians in the last parliament, and while
the number of women has tripled in 2015 they are still out-numbered by 26 men. All
the LGB MPs in the last House of Commons were white, all in this House are white,
and a full 153 of the 155 candidates were white. There were four out transgender
candidates in the elections. The much heralded Emily Brothers for Labour in Sutton
and Cheam who increased the Labour vote by over 4%, Zoe O’Connell the Liberal
Democrat in Maldon whose vote actually declined less than the national average,
and Greens, Stella Gardiner (Bexleyheath) and Charlie Kiss (Islington South), who
both increased their party share of the vote. Kiss, the only trans-man in the election,
actually increased the Green vote by 6% which was twice the national average.
* Maps compiled by Kieran Healy.
TABLE 1: BY PARTY
MP 2010
% of party
Candidates
% of party
MP 2015
% of party
Tory
13
4%
42
6%
12
4%
Labour
9
3%
36
5%
13
6%
LibDem
4
7%
39
5%
0
0%
SNP
0
0
7
12%
7
12%
PC
0
0
3
7%
0
0%
Green
0
0
21
4%
0
0%
UKIP
0
0
6
1%
0
0%
ALLNI
0
0%
1
5%
0
0%
TABLE 2: BY REGION
MPs 2010
% of const
Candidates
% of const
MP 2015
% of const
NE
1
3%
8
28%
1
3%
NW
4
5%
15
17%
4
5%
Yorks
3
6%
11
20%
3
6%
EM
2
4%
15
33%
2
4%
WM
2
4%
11
23%
2
4%
East
0
0%
2
3%
0
0%
Lon
3
4%
28
36%
3
4%
SE
4
5%
19
20%
4
5%
SW
5
9%
13
24%
3
5%
Wales
2
5%
12
27%
3
7%
Scot
0
0%
17
29%
7
12%
NB: SEATS= NE (29) NW (75) YORKS (54) EM (46) WM (47) EAST (58) LON (73) SE (84) SW (55) WALES (40)
SCOT (59) NI (18)
TABLE 3: BY IDENTITY
MP 2010
% of LGBT
Gay
22
85%
Lesbian
2
8%
Bisexual
2
8%
Transgender
0
0
Candidates
% of LGBT
MP 2015
%
Male
133
86%
26
81%
Female
18
12%
6
19%
Trans M-F
3
2%
0
0%
Trans F-M
1
1%
0
0%
NI
0
0%
1
5%
0
0%
1. Elected LGBT MPs 2015 (32)
Arundel and South Down
Bath
Blackpool South
Bournemouth West
Cardiff South and Penarth
Croydon North
Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East
Dumbartonshire East
Dumbartonshire West
Edinburgh South West
Exeter
Finchley and Golders Green
Glasgow South
Grantham and Stamford
Hove
Ilford North
Lanark and Hamilton East
Lancaster and Fleetwood
Liverpool West Derby
Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
Milton Keynes South
Newcastle East
Paisley and Renfrewshire S
Pudsey
Reigate
Rhondda
Ribble Valley
Rutland and Melton
Sheffield South East
Shrewsbury and Atcham
Stourbridge
Wallasey
LGBT Candidate
Nick Herbert
Ben Howlett
Gordon Marsden
Conor Burns
Stephen Doughty
Steve Reed
Stuart McDonald
John Nicolson
Martin Doherty
Joanna Cherry
Ben Bradshaw
Mike Freer
Stewart McDonald
Nick Boles
Peter Kyle
Wes Streeting
Angela Crawley
Cat Smith
Stephen Twigg
Gerald Jones
Iain Stewart
Nick Brown
Mhairi Black
Stuart Andrew
Crispin Blunt
Chris Bryant
Nigel Evans
Alan Duncan
Clive Betts
David Kawczynski
Margot James
Angela Eagle
Party
Con
Con
Lab
Con
Lab
Lab
SNP
SNP
SNP
SNP
Lab
Con
SNP
Con
Lab
Lab
SNP
Lab
Lab
Lab
Con
Lab
SNP
Con
Con
Lab
Con
Con
Lab
Con
Con
Lab
Region
SE
SW
NW
SW
WALES
LON
SCOT
SCOT
SCOT
SCOT
SW
LON
SCOT
EM
SE
LON
SCOT
NW
NW
WALES
SE
NE
SCOT
YORK
SE
WALES
YORK
EM
YORK
WM
WM
NW
2. Candidates

Parties and candidates have publically identified 155 out LGBT candidates
standing in the general election: 42 Tory, 39 Liberal Democrat, 36 Labour, 21
Green, 7 SNP, 6 UKIP, 3 Plaid Cymru, and 1 from the Alliance Party of Northern
Ireland.
Labour
Stephen Twigg – Liverpool and West Derby (NW)
Steve Reed – Croydon North (LON)
Chris Bryant – Rhondda (WALES)
Stephen Doughty – Cardiff South and Penarth (WALES)
Clive Betts - Sheffield South East (YORK)
Angela Eagle – Wallasey (NW)
Nick Brown – Newcastle East (NE)
Gordon Marsden – Blackpool South (NW)
Ben Bradshaw – Exeter (SW)
Gerald Jones (G) - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (WALES)
Cat Smith - Lancaster & Fleetwood (NW)
Louise Baldock (B)- Stockton South (NE)
Luke Pollard (G) - Plymouth Sutton & Devonport (SW)
Peter Kyle (G) - Hove (SE)
Andrew Pakes (G) - Milton Keynes South (SE)
Todd Foreman (G) - North East Somerset (SW)
Wes Streeting (G) - Ilford North (LON)
Chris Oxlade (G) - Crawley (SE)
Tristan Osborne (G) - Chatham & Aylesford (SE)
Ian Boulton - Filton & Bradley Stoke (SW)
Kevin McKeever - Northampton South (EM)
Katrina Gilman - The Wrekin (WM)
Stefano Borella - Bexleyheath & Crayford (LON)
Andy Adams - North West Hampshire (SE)
Sean Kelly-Walsh – Charnwood (EM)
Emily Brothers (T) - Sutton & Cheam (LON)
Braden Davy - Gordon (SCOT)
Matthew Dorrance - Brecon & Radnorshire (WALES)
Sean Morton - Moray (SCOT)
Jordan Newell - Colchester (EAST)
Lloyd Russell-Moyle - Lewes (SE)
Charles Smith - Maidenhead (SE)
Christopher Wellbelove – Arundel and South Downs (SE)
Steve Race – East Devon (SW)
Barrie Fairbairn - Grantham & Stamford (EM)
Michael Sparling - Torridge & West Devon (SW)
Conservative
Nick Herbert – Arundel and South Down (SE)
Nigel Evans – Ribble Valley (YORK)
Alan Duncan – Rutland and Melton (EM)
David Kawczynski - Shrewsbury and Atcham (WM)
Crispin Blunt – Reigate (SE)
Nick Boles – Grantham and Stamford (EM)
Conor Burns – Bournemouth West (SW)
Mike Freer – Finchley and Golders Green (LON)
Margot James – Stourbridge (WM)
Iain Stewart – Milton Keynes South (SE)
Stuart Andrew – Pudsey (YORK)
Eric Ollerenshaw – Lancaster and Fleetwood (NW)
Lee Rowley – NE Derbyshire (EM)
Peter Anthony - Blackpool South (NW)
David Nicholls – Clwyd South (WALES)
Simon Nayyar – Feltham and Heston (LON)
Gareth Streeter – Rother Valley (YORK)
Damien Moore – Southport (NW)
Robert Mcllveen – York Central (YORK)
Ben Howlett – Bath (SW)
Christopher Clarkson – Wallasey (NW)
Chris Chapman – Ilford South (LON)
Peter Bedford – Bolsover (EM)
Mark Fletcher – Doncaster North (YORK)
Emma Warman - Cardiff South and Penarth (WALES)
Richard Hopkin – Cardiff Central (WALES)
Paul Holmes – Mitcham and Morden (LON)
Will Blair – Holborn and St.Pancras (LON)
Jean Paul Floru – Southwark and Old Bermondsey (LON)
Martin McGann – North Tyneside (NE)
Keiran Mullan – Birmingham Hodge Hill (WM)
Thomas Smith – Gateshead (NE)
Mark Vivis – Chesterfield (EM)
James Bellis – Vauxhall (LON)
Jamie Greene – North Ayrshire and Arran (SCOT)
Liam Marshall-Ascough – Stoke-on-Trent Central (WM)
Ross Thomson – Aberdeen South (SCOT)
James Bird – Birmingham Hall Green (WM)
Kyle Thornton – Glasgow South (SCOT)
Annie Wells – Glasgow North East (SCOT)
Taylor Muir - Rutherglen and Hamilton West (SCOT)
James McMordie – Edinburgh East (SCOT)
Liberal Democrat
David Laws – Yeovil (SW)
Simon Hughes –Bermondsey and Old Southwark (LON)
Stephen Gilbert - St. Austell and Newquay (SW)
Stephen Williams – Bristol West (SW)
Gerald Vernon-Jackson (G) – Portsmouth South (SE)
John Munro - Weston-super-Mare (SW)
Terry Stacy - Islington South & Finsbury (LON)
Dave Page - Manchester Gorton (NW)
Paul Hodgkinson – Cotswolds (SW)
Steven Lambert – Aylesbury (SE)
Adrian Trett – Vauxhall (LON)
Janice Spalding – Basingstoke (SE)
Steve Sollitt – Havant (SE)
David Lee - East Surrey (SE)
Giles Goodall – Wealden (SE)
Ben Mathis - Hackney South & Shoreditch (LON)
Peter Brooks – Orpington (LON)
Alan Bullion – Sevenoaks (SE)
Paul Childs - Liverpool Riverside (NW)
Callum Delhoy – Daventry (EM)
James Harrison - Glasgow North West (SCOT)
Andy Graham – Witney (SE)
Zoe O'Connell (T) – Maldon (EAST)
Cadan ap Tomos - Cardiff West (WALES)
Stuart Bonar - Plymouth Moor View (SW)
Lee Dargue - Birmingham Edgbaston (WM)
Euan Davidson - Aberdeen North (SCOT)
Josh Dixon - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (LON)
Kevin Michael Peter McNamara - Ealing North (LON)
Andrew Martin - Bolton West (NW)
Alisdair McGregor - Calder Valley (YORK)
Ross Pepper – Lincoln (EM)
Chris Young - Glasgow Central (SCOT)
Stewart Golton - Elmet & Rothwell (YORK)
Stephen Glenn – Sedgefield (NE)
Richard Gadsden – Blackley and Broughton (NW)
Mark Argent – NW Leicestershire (EM)
Victor Chamberlain - Wythenshawe and Sale East (NW)
David Evans – Banff and Buchan (SCOT)
SNP Candidates
Stewart McDonald – Glasgow South (SCOT)
John Nicolson - East Dumbartonshire (SCOT)
Martin Docherty – West Dumbartonshire (SCOT)
Joanna Cherry – Edinburgh SW (SCOT)
Mhairi Black - Paisley and Renfrewshire S (SCOT)
Angela Crawley – Lanark and Hamilton East (SCOT)
Stuart McDonald - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East (SCOT)
Plaid Cymru Candidates
Vaughan Williams (G) – Llanelli (WALES)
Mike Parker (G) – Ceredigion (WALES)
Harri Roberts – Swansea West (WALES)
UKIP Candidates
David Coburn – Gordon (SCOT)
Nathan Garbutt – Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (YORK)
Richard Hilton – Mitcham and Morden (LON)
Gary Shores – Beverly and Holderness (YORK)
Peter Whittle – Eltham (LON)
Richard Hendron – Brentford and Isleworth (LON)
Green Candidates
Grant Bishop (G) - Birmingham Yardley (WM)
Matt Cooke (G) – Torfaen (WALES)
Martyn Curzey (G) - Aldridge Brownhills (WM)
Will Duckworth (G) - Dudley North (WM)
Gabby Garcia (L) – Leicester South (EM)
Stella Gardiner (T) - Bexleyhealth and Crayford (LON)
Sam Gibbons (G) - Newcastle Under Lyme (WM)
Tim Goodall (G) - Leeds North West (YORKS)
Andrew Gray (G) - Newcastle East (NE)
Rebecca Johnson (L) - Hampstead and Kilburn (LON)
David Kirwan (G) – Broxtowe (EM)
Charlie Kiss (T) – Islington South and Finsbury (LON)
Jazz Mahal (B) - Ealing Southall (LON)
Tamsin Omond (L) - East Ham (LON)
Will Patterson (G) - Wigan (NW)
Victoria Percival (B) - Boston & Skegness (EM)
Storm Poorun (G) - Lewisham East (LON)
Anne Power - Wyre and Preston North (NW)
Lorna Tooley (B) – Romford (LON)
Marion Turner-Hawes (L) - Wellingborough (EM)
Lee Williscroft-Ferris (G) - Hexham (NE)
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland Candidates
Andrew Muir – North Down (NI)