Minority vote could decide 2015 election In 168 marginal seats the ethnic minority vote now outweighs the majority of the current MP, and the trend is not confined to inner-city areas but extends to places including Southampton, Oxford, Sherwood, Ipswich and Northampton, the Guardian reported. Professor Heath, of Oxford University, who has studied ethnic demographic changes and their effects on elections, claims that the 20 seats the Conservative would have needed for a majority were lost because they failed to win the minority vote. Minority voters can be won away from Labour, but only if you make active efforts, including addressing their concerns. There is little sign of long term erosion from Labour," he said. In 2010 the minority ethnic vote was bigger than the sitting MPs majority in 99 seats, it is estimated. Minority voters are both growing in numbers and moving out of the inner cities into more marginal seats. Simon Woolley, of OBV, said: "The black vote has never been so powerful. This is great news for all those who thought we could never effect change. This research is a political game-changer - above all, if ethnic minority communities and politicians respond positively to it, democracy wins. The political leverage could be used to demand greater race equality, he added.