As the UK woke up to shock election results and a hung parliament, many people were celebrating the fact that the country has elected one of the most diverse selection of MPs ever.

There are now more black or minority ethnic (BME) MPs, women MPs, self-declared disabled MPs, and openly LGBT MPs than ever before, reports suggest, prompting campaigners to cheer the fact that "representation underpins our democracy".

Overall there are 10 newly elected MPs from BME backgrounds, bringing the total in the Commons from 41 to 51 – a record high.

Simon Woolley, cofounder and director of Operation Black Vote, told BuzzFeed News it has been a fantastic election in terms of race equality. "I think that is a massive step forward in the right direction," he said.

There are also more women MPs than ever before, with 207 elected at the time of writing, far more than the 191 in the last parliament.

Four black women are joining the new parliament: Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative MP for Saffron Walden, Fiona Onasanya, the Labour MP for Peterborough, Labour's Eleanor Smith for Wolverhampton South West, and Marsha de Cordova, the Labour MP for Battersea.

