Youth Parliament successfully attracts a diverse ethnic mix

Data unveiled yesterday (22 July) by the organisation show that white people made up 74 per cent of the young people elected and half were female.

In comparison, just two per cent of MPs are from ethnic minorities and only one in five are women. Across England, white people account for 91.9 per cent of the population, according to the 2001 Census.

Half of all young voters were aged 15 to 16, with five per cent of all votes cast by 11- and 12-year-olds, the lowest age range.

Andy Hamflett, chief executive of UK Youth Parliament, said the figures were a welcome wake-up call to politicians. "We're quite proud of this," he said. "A few MPs realise what we have achieved and are working out how it can help them take things forward. People say black and ethnic minority young people aren't interested but this shows the problem isn't young people but politics itself."