House of Lords is ethnically more diverse than Commons

London, The House of Lords is ethnically more diverse than the House of Commons with more Asians and Afro-Caribbeans, according to the head of Britain's equality commission.

Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said that the House of Commons was dominated by white men and was unrepresentative of the country.

" Parliament may be the pumping heart of our democracy, but its lifeblood is white, straight and male. That has to change,"he said. The House of Commons has a record 15 ethnic minority MPs, including Virendra Sharma and Keith Vaz of the Labour party.