The election of four black Labour MPs in 1987 marked the first time since 1929 that a black person had graced the House of Commons. In 1992 this position was consolidated when the total number of black MPs rose to six.

Terri Sewell’s impressive study of black political participation in Britain was one of the first to provide an in-depth analysis of how ethnic minorities gained access to electoral politics. Using the campaign for ‘Black Sections’ in the Labour Party as a case study, she examines the long-running controversy of black electoral representation. She concludes that after the important progress of the 1980s, black political participation was already facing a period of retrenchment by 1990, with black representatives performing a valuable but limited lobbying and symbolic role. She identifies the key to renewed change in the growing self-confidence of black Britons.

Based on extensive interviews with key figures in black British politics, Black Tribunes established Terri Sewell as a leading authority on the subject. She is now member of the Democratic Party in the US and has been the representative for Alabama’s 7th congressional district since 2011.