A report released by the Sutton Trust this month has revealed that 19 per cent of 260 would-be MPs are Oxbridge graduates and a third were educated at a private school.

The Sutton Trust, a UK educational charity which aims to address educational disadvantage, was set up by Sir Peter Lampl in 1997.

Lampl said in the report: “This research shows that the next House of Commons is unlikely to reflect any more social diversity than the current crop of MPs”.

The sample of 260 prospective MPs included candidates selected by mid-December 2014 who were replacing serving MPs for the same party or in target seats with a reasonable chance of success.

As well as a high percentage of Oxbridge alumni, statistics showed that 55 per cent of candidates were educated at Russell Group universities. However, the Sutton Trust described this as “perhaps less of a concern” because many Russell Group universities “accept reasonable proportions of less privileged students”. 

The educational background of these prospective MPs is drastically disproportionate to that of the UK population. Whilst 19 per cent of the 260 candidates were Oxbridge alumni, only 1 per cent of the population attended these elite universities. Similarly, just 11 per cent of the adult population went to a Russell Group university compared with the 55 per cent of this sample.

Nationwide, 62 per cent of adults do not have a degree compared to only 1 in 10 of the prospective MPs sampled. Whilst 31 per cent of the sample were privately educated, only 7 per cent of the population attend a fee-paying school. This shows little change from the current parliament in which only 17 per cent of MPs have no degree but 44 per cent were Russell Group graduates and 24 per cent Oxbridge alumni.

A political party breakdown of these statistics shows that the Conservative party is the least diverse in terms of educational background, with 28 per cent of the 64 Conservative candidates being Oxbridge-educated, and 68 per cent Russell Group university graduates.

The Labour party follows with 18 per cent of 134 candidates being Oxbridge graduates and 56 per cent Russell Group graduates.

UKIP had the lowest number of graduates from elite universities with only 3 Oxbridge graduates amongst their 38 candidates and 29 per cent from the Russell Group. 

The report, entitled Parliamentary Privilege, also looks at the professional backgrounds of the candidates, revealing that 40 per cent were previously in political careers, including half of the Labour candidates. Overall, 47 of the 260 had been consultants, particularly in media relations, another 29 had been barristers and 19 were from a journalistic background.

Despite being future Oxbridge graduates, some Cambridge students have echoed the concerns of the Sutton Trust. Fred Jerrome, chair of Cambridge University Labour Club said: "Parliament should draw together all sorts of people from different backgrounds. This dominance by a select social group shows how the government is failing to give everyone a decent chance. We need a change of direction to deal with the inequality at the heart of this problem".