Unelected Equality Chief Says Britain Should Stop ‘Demonising’ Migrants
22nd December 2025
Britain’s newly appointed equalities chief has triggered a political backlash after dismissing concerns about mass migration and defending the increasingly controversial European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Mary-Ann Stephenson took over this month as chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), an unelected quango with wide influence over equality and human rights policy in Britain. In her first major interviews, she urged politicians and the media to stop “demonising” migrants, arguing that describing migration as a danger to Britain makes life “very, very difficult” for migrants and ethnic minority citizens.
Stephenson dismissed growing calls to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, despite withdrawal now being backed by parties representing a large share of the electorate. Reform UK, currently leading in the polls, has pledged to withdraw from the convention, arguing it enables activist lawyers to prevent the deportation of dangerous migrants. After months of prevarication, the Conservatives later followed suit.
Her remarks mark a clear departure from the stance of her predecessor, Baroness Falkner, who warned last year that integration in Britain was failing amid record levels of legal and illegal migration.