The glass cliff: Evidence that women and ethnic minorities contest “hopeless” seats

Are women and ethnic minorities set up to fail when they run in UK General Elections? Clara Kulich from the University of Geneva (Switzerland) presents findings from collaborative research with colleagues at the University of Exeter (UK) and the University of Queensland (Australia) which show that in past UK General Elections (2001 to 2010) women and ethnic minority candidates of the Conservative party were preferentially chosen to run for “hopeless seats” — that is, in constituencies where their party was likely to lose.