Black people are still under-represented in London's local councils, a new study has revealed.

The research by Queen Mary University of London found council representation of Black people in the capital remains at almost six percentage points below the wider population.

London’s White population is over-represented in council chambers by more than 15 percentage points, while the capital’s Asian population is now represented proportionately overall, according to the study.

The study also found important differences in the gender representation of different groups. White and Asian men were over-represented in London councils by 15.2% and 2.2% respectively, while White women were represented proportionally. Black men were the least represented group at -3.3 percentage points.

Mercy Muroki, researcher at Queen Mary’s Mile End Institute said: ‘The under-representation of groups in local government matters both in its own right and because local government is an important pathway to national office.

’If we want to see a more representative parliament, we need to see more representative local government.’