Parliament is advertising for a new artist in residence to paint women and people from black and ethnic minorities to help shift the balance away from the white male portraits dominating Westminster’s corridors.

For most of the 20th century, a Parliamentary rule that banned portraits of MPs being hung until 10 years after their death meant that it took decades for changes in the mix of gender and ethnicity in the Commons and Lords to be reflected in artwork.

That rule was relaxed in the 1990s, and although the £25,000 commission will not focus on MPs, it will result in a major work of art celebrating the legacy of the 1965, 1968 and 1976 Race Relations Acts which will be hung in the Houses of Parliament.