Labour to introduce race quotas for FTSE Boards

The Labour party have pledged that if they were to win the next General Election in 2015, they would seriously consider introducing gender and race quotas for top business boards, according to Operation Black Vote (OBV) director Simon Woolley. Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna is reported to have stated, "The continued existence of a glass ceiling for women and ethnic minorities in our boardrooms is undeniable and unacceptable."

"Whilst advances on non-executive appointments in recent years have been welcome, progress on executive positions has been lamentable." "Increasing diversity adds to our international competitiveness as boards make better decisions where a range of voices drawing on different life experiences can be heard."

Umunna's announcement comes after ground breaking analysis of 10,000 FTSE 100 executives found that only a dozen of the 289 top posts of chief executive, chairman or chief financial officer held by women, and just ten by ethnic minorities. The Green Park Leadership 10,000 report  by Trevor Phillips and Professor Richard Webber of Kings College London, used computer software to investigate the backgrounds of Britain's top business executives, including gender and ethno-cultural composition, and looked at 15 business sectors.

Click here to read the OBV blog post in full.
Click here to read about the 'Diversity Deficit' report.