Pankhurst Seminar Series with Dr Nicole Martin: Biases at the Ballot Box: How Prejudiced are British Voters against Ethnic Minority MPs?
| Dates: | 1 May 2019 |
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| Times: | 12:00 - 13:00 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | School of Social Sciences |
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Dr Nicole Martin is a Lecturer at the University of Manchester.
'Candidates for political office are increasingly ethnically diverse, including in the UK. In this presentation, I look at the question of whether ethnic minority candidates face an electoral penalty at the ballot box on account of their ethnicity. I present evidence that promoting pro-minority or pro-immigration policies is more damaging to the electoral chances of ethnic minority candidates than a candidate’s ethnic background itself. Moreover, I show that some UK voters are actually more positive about ethnic minority candidates than white British candidates – and vote accordingly. These results reveal an electorate divided by attitudes to race and immigration, and suggests that despite efforts across parties to increase the ethnic diversity of candidates for office, broader support for minority candidates and pro-minority policies is far from universal.'
Travel and Contact Information
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5.209
University Place
Manchester
