A new research report, 'Where are the women in LSPs?', has been published following a study by Urban Forum, Oxfam and Women's Resource Centre (WRC).
The research found that only 28% of Chairs of central LSPs boards are women and only 19% of different groups within LSPs have women as Chairs. You can read more about the findings in the report here.
A hard-hitting article in regional paper Kent on Sunday's 27 April 2008 edition highlighted the desperate state of women's representation in one of England's biggest counties. Only 16% of the County Council's members are women (14 out of 70 councillors) and none of them are in the Council's ruling cabinet.
The article also contains a number of interesting facts and figures about women's representation in the South East, commenting that Essex, West Sussex and East Sussex all have a number of women cabinet members.
If you see any similar local articles about women's representation in your area, please let us know: wlgs2007@googlemail.com
Leading women's rights campaigning organisation the Fawcett Society is looking for a new Head of Campaigns and a Senior Communications Officer, at salaries of £35,819 and £31,604 respectively.
Information packs and application forms can be downloaded from: Fawcett's website. Closing date for both applications is 14th May 2008.
As Fawcett's Director Katharine Rake puts it:
"We campaign for a world where women can realise their full potential and have the power and means to achieve their dreams. And we know that making women's rights a reality will create a more just society for all.
"Our inspiring and influential campaigns have delivered many improvements in the lives of women in the UK. But we are ambitious for more. These two new roles are pivotal in delivering our exciting vision for growth."
The front page of the Local Government Chronicle of 16 April 2008 provides a timely reminder of why WLGS was re-formed, as men are revealed to dominate in the candidates selected for the May elections to the four new unitary councils. As the full analysis of political party candidates by gender reveals, all three of the main parties have overwhelmingly selected men to contest the new seats.
Northumberland Council could potentially see either the highest number of women returned or the lowest, depending on how the different political parties fare in the elections, as Labour have selected their highest proportion of women (47%) for this council, while the Liberal Democrats have selected women in only 20% of the Northumberland seats.
Overall across all parties in the four new councils, the male/female gender balance seems to hover around the current 70% / 30% proportion for male and female councillors, suggesting that this is one ceiling that women are finding it hard to break through.
WLGS had written to all parties and to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government asking what they were doing to ensure fair representation in the new councils. Sadly it seems that the parties have all missed this opportunity for a fresh start and we need to ask why.
In a new paper to the Political Studies Association, Chris Game from the Institute of Local Government Studies, argues that the "rules governing bodies' franchise and candidacy qualifications and electoral systems" has had a major effect on the representation of women since the 19th century, and continues to do so today.
His paper, given to the PSA Conference in April 2008, is really three mini-papers, covering a history of women's representation on 19th century boards, a discussion of how electoral and quota systems might be reformed to increase representation of under-represented groups today, and a summary of the recent Councillors' Commission report on these issues. The role of the original WLGS in achieving the 1907 legislation is discussed, as are our aims for the re-formed WLGS.
Chris Game argues that at the current rate of progress in women's representation in local government, gender parity would not be reached until some time between 2136 and 2223! He highlights that there is evidence from international experience to suggest that "party-centred systems with multi-member constituencies are likely to be the most favourable combination for the election of minority group representatives" but also urges caution as there are many variables, in particular the "prevailing social and political culture", identified as "critical" by the Councillors Commission.
His paper concludes with a discussion of the impact of quotas around the world but highlights the hostility towards statutory quotas felt by many in Britain. In conclusion he expresses disappointment at the failure of the political parties to make more progress with voluntary quotas.
Chairman of WLGS, Cllr Lesley Clarke of Wycombe District Council, has written to the Chair or General Secretary of all three main political parties and to Hazel Blears as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, tackling them on what they are each doing to address the findings of the Councillors Commission and increase the proportion of women councillors.
Writing to the Conservative Party, Labour Party and Liberal Democrat Party, Lesley asks them a series of questions, around the representation of women as councillors in the new unitaries, and around issues raised by the Councillors Commission more generally, for example, what steps they are taking to increase the proportion of women in leadership positions in each political party.
Lesley has also written to Secretary of State Hazel Blears MP specifically on the issue of the representation of women in the new unitaries, acknowledging that the creation of new councils is an opportunity to improve representation, but also highlighting concerns that in the overall reduction in the number of councillors the representation of women does not go down even further. Highlighting the Commission's recommendation in favour of multi-member wards, WLGS has asked what consideration has been given to this in the creation of the new unitaries.
Lesley said, "These are all issues that were discussed at our recent AGM and while we welcome the findings of the Councillors Commission and look forward to contributing to their implementation, it is important to highlight the responsibilities of political parties and raise the issues of concern to our members, as discussed at our AGM."
The re-enactment of the 1907 Council meeting where I was appearing as a suffragette (well that's what they thought) was designed to celebrate 100 years of having a Lord Mayor, but I managed to ensure that people realised that we should also be celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the Act of Parliament which allowed women to stand for election to Councils such as Bradford.
I was supposed to just interject with a few votes for women comments but I managed to do a 5/6 min speech (see text of speech here) which explained to the packed public that despite women standing for, being elected and doing great work on the school boards and as Poor Law guardians (paying tribute to people like Eva McClaren, Margaret McMillan, Florence Moser, Mrs Stott and Alice Priestman), they had until then been denied opportunity to be on the Council.
It went down a storm and ended up with quite a number of the women audience standing up and cheering and demanding votes and seats along with me - great fun.
After doing research in Patricia Hollis's book, I decided that the most realistic person I could be was either Edith Priestman or Mrs Stott who were both influential on the Poor Law board and set up the Bradford Unemployed Emergency Committee. Mrs Stott was a sharp minded progressive wife of a local ironmonger but no mention of her political affinities (according to the book), whereas Edith Priestman was an early member of the ILP, so you can guess who I chose to be.
I was fully in costume - a very fashionable 1907 red and blue suit with matching hat and contrasting bows and feathers and gloves, white high-necked blouse and boots - all hired from our local theatre, plus my grandmother's fox (which I have never had chance to wear). I even added false hair to my own so I could put it in a bun.
Robin Owens (the mayor) made comment that if I was anything to go by, then the work of the Council would take much longer, which got the women jeering at him and I was able to reply, "at least women will get things done: all you men do is talk and take credit for what we do!"
Earlier each of the Aldermen and Chairs of committees had given a speech as to the things they had achieved, which allowed me in my speech to point out that they were actually taking credit for things that the women had done - the man being the Chair of Education boasted about the school baths when we know it was Margaret McMillan who got them built.
Why not organise a similar re-enactment around the 100th anniversary of the first women getting elected in your council? You could organise it in conjunction with a schools project.
We are keen to see you all make a contribution to International Women's day locally.
Just one idea at the AGM was for women councillors to write to the local paper to mark International Women's Day on 8 March.
Download this model letter that we have drafted to help you.
The first decision we made on meeting for the 2nd AGM of the Women's Local Government Society in Cambridge was that "we haven't achieved equality yet – we must carry on". That positive note set the tone for a very productive meeting. More detailed notes will be released shortly along with a 2008 membership pack, but here is flavour of the discussion:
Management committee were re-selected en bloc, but we are also looking to co-opt any volunteers willing to help with web site administration, and expanding our press coverage by drafting and submitting articles and press releases.
Our campaign for the year will focus on finding the next generation of women councillors.
We want to hold another event at the Local Government Association (LGA) conference after the success last year, perhaps launching our campaign.
We will hold another national event in the Autumn, with Manchester as a possible venue to celebrate the election of Margaret Ashton (pictured below) 100 years ago this November. Please put Saturday 18th October in your diary now so you can join in this event.
We aim to at least double our membership this year. Membership subscription rates have been held at the same level as last year, although we intend gradually introducing a sliding scale for organisations, with the current £30 being at the lower end of the scale.
Why not make a start by renewing your contribution now, and asking your political group, council, or constituency women's organisation to join. The simple web-based version of our membership form can be downloaded here. A membership pack including other background material will be emailed to members before the end of March.
At the end of a busy year we have a little money left in the bank, mainly because of the donations from our members, some welcome events sponsorship and the generosity of our presidents in loaning towards some costs. Full accounts will be added to the web-site once audited.
We were delighted to welcome Diana Stewart to our AGM who is a project officer working with Women in local councils in Northern Ireland. Information about their work can be found here.
Diana will give us more details for a later update, but in the meantime check out the gender action plan on the news page, where councils are committed to improving elected gender representation alongside issues around staff and service delivery.
Again, more details on the web-site soon, but we were delighted Patricia Hollis was able to join us, and remind us of some of the important issues currently going through Parliament which are of interest to councillors. Of prime concern must be the practical arrangements being made for re-organising some councils and introducing Unitary Local Government.
We were concerned women were likely to lose out both because of the practical difficulties of operating in a large council in a remote area, and because the reduced numbers of councillors overall means some fierce competition at selection. We will be writing to the Minister and political parties about this, so your thoughts are welcome. We suspect those drafting the regulations and implementing them might need to read the report from the councillors commission again.
Two experts briefed us on their work and started some discussion. Mary Shears works at the local elections centre at Plymouth, and has been investigating women candidates and attitudes to them. You can find her full results here.
The key findings suggest:
These are both problems that we can help solve, so below you will find the first of many suggestions to help you find a (female) friend – preferably one from a different background or age group to your own - who you might encourage to become a councillor.
Alongside Mary, Jessica Crowe led a debate on the five principles which underpin the work of the Councillors' Commission. We want to respond to Ministers on this, as we think all five principles need acting on. Jessica's report to the AGM on the key findings, principles and recommendations of the Commission is here
Rose Hacker, who attended our summer event at City Hall, has died aged 101 years.
Politically active throughout her life, Rose fought fascism in the 1930s, was president of Bertrand Russell's Progressive League, a member of the Fabians, and served on the Greater London Council in the 1970s. According to a Guardian obituary, she was "a fashion buyer, politician, older people's advocate, sex therapist and the nation's oldest columnist" at various points during her long life.
At the WLGS event at City Hall she was still speaking up for equality and lamented the lack of progress towards a fair society for women and men that she saw persisting to this day. She recalled the battles that she and her colleagues had fought for equal representation and the right of women to be active in public life and inspired our gathering to continue her fight.
Rose is pictured in one of the photos from the WLGS event, along with the youngest woman present, aged 16.
Cllr Rita Krishna attended the launch of the councillors commission report on our behalf, and was inspired by the strength of the package of recommendations and the insistence of commission chair Jane Roberts that vibrant and thriving local democracy was crucial to our future.
We will be discussing the impact and implementation of this report at our discussion day, but in the meantime we have been asked to comment on the recommendations. There are 61 of them in total and they can be found on page 58 of the report with background information in earlier parts of the report.
The recommendations are a coherent package, and we are considering responding to the current consultation saying so, stressing the need ( as we did in our submission) for action by all, and perhaps highlighting the vital nature of recommendation 1 as a result. There are also some recommendations which are aimed to ensure better meetings and better support and training for councillors which we are sure you will want to encourage in your own councils.
However there are some areas that might be more controversial (or essential) for those of you who are sitting councillors, and the following are topics we are encouraging debate on:
We are still finding details of councils who planned activities to celebrate the Centenary of the 1907 elections, and I have just found this nice simple example from Cumbria:
www.cumbria.gov.uk/communications/womencouncillors
Just in case you thought we might slow down now the Centenary is over, our AGM will be discussing ways of marking the November 1st local elections on a regular basis over the next few years. We are also still planning publications, so keep sending us your local stories.
On 22 November 2007 it was one hundred years since the election of the first woman councillor in Oldham, a wealthy widow named Mrs Lees.
According to the Manchester Guardian of November 23rd 1907, there was a rush of women voters as soon as the polls opened as each tried to be the first one to cast her vote for Mrs Lees, who was comfortably elected to represent the Liberals in Hollinwood ward on Oldham Town Council. She was elected in one of three by-elections caused by a resignation and the elevation of two aldermen.
On 13 November 2007, Baroness Patricia Hollis, one of our honorary presidents, and Cllr Lesley Clarke, the current leader of Wycombe District Council - one of the first areas in England to elect a woman councillor 100 years ago - and our Chair, were on Woman's Hour discussing the centenary.
Listen to the podcast discussion via the Radio 4 Woman's Hour website
The week leading up to that 1st November anniversary was a busy one, as 'share as story week' discussions took place in Taunton, Birmingham, Oldham and Darlington.
Although numbers at each event were relatively small, they were all worthwhile in very different ways. In Oldham we were treated to a peep at the wonderful portrait of Mrs Lees, elected in 1907, who contributed so much to Oldham. Councillors there are keen to share her history with the local community.
There were also some common themes in discussions, which echo those we also heard earlier in the year at LGA conference and our event in London. We included some of them in our submission to the Councillors Commission, but they are summarised again here:
Several councils are still planning events and exhibitions, but the culmination of our 'centrally organised' plans came on 1st November, the anniversary of those 1907 elections, when management committee member Cllr Marianne Overton hosted a reception in Lincolnshire at which we toasted the success of 'Ladies elect'.
Lincolnshire was a highly relevant venue. When County Councils were first created in 1889, Mrs Massingberd tried to stand as a candidate there. The campaign against her focused on her being a woman and therefore probably not entitled to stand. This was despite the fact that, according to Patricia Hollis's book, Ladies Elect, by 1900, Lincolnshire had 9 female Rural District Councillors and 31 female Poor Law Guardians.
The highlight of the 2007 activity in Lincolnshire was a series of interviews with women who were Parish, District and County councillors recorded on the night and beforehand by a local community radio station.
Thanks to one of our Presidents, London Assembly member Baroness Sally Hamwee, WLGS and the London Assembly hosted a very successful debate and reception for women councillors and others on 12 June to mark the centenary of the date the legislation allowing women to stand for their local council was introduced into Parliament.
100 years on from that seminal occasion, less than 30% of councillors are women. Speakers Dr Katharine Rake from Fawcett Society, Cllr Susan Richardson from Westminster City Council and Pam Giddy, Director of the Power Inquiry, spoke about the challenges still facing women in their struggle for equality.
Katharine Rake highlighted the fact that when there is a female candidate regardless of political party, women turn out to vote in higher numbers - it matters to the public who represents them. Cllr Richardson spoke about the importance of culture, cash, childcare and confidence in explaining why women aren't getting involved in politics and about her own experiences as a woman politician. And Pam Giddy emphasised the need to change the nature of power and move towards more participative and deliberative forums, as well as using positive action to get more women into the current power structures. Contributions from the audience highlighted women's experiences as early elected representatives and some of these have been posted on our stories page.
After the debate a reception to celebrate women councillors' achievements took place in London's Living Room on the top floor of City Hall. The picture above shows the range of women present, from 16 year-old Caitlin, a member of her school council, to 101 year-old Rose Hacker, a former member of the London County Council and Greater London Council. Also pictured are WLGS president Baroness Patricia Hollis and WLGS Management Committee member Cllr Marianne Overton.
Wednesday 4th July 2007
from 6.45pm
Women councillors have been adding colour and vibrancy to the council chamber for 100 years. This year we celebrate the centenary of their success, and look forward to an even more successful future. As we unravel the threads which hold together their participation we find there is a pattern.
Our panel of current and former leading women councillors will lead an audience discussion on their experiences of selection, election and making their mark as councillors. All women welcome. Bring your own needles. Men are welcome to attend, but in memory of the first women elected will be asked to stand apart at the side.
The discussion will help inform policy makers in their efforts to ensure the numbers of women councillors improves on the current level of 29%.
The event is open to all delegates and exhibitors at the Local Government Association's annual national conference. For more information please contact Anne Baldwin on wlgs2007@googlemail.com
An historic meeting in Sheffield Town Hall on 10 March 2007 was dubbed a great success by women delegates who attended from around the country. Following an inaugural meeting and formation of a Steering Group in October 2006, the event in Sheffield was the first formal meeting of the revived Women's Local Government Society.
Hosted by Cllr Jackie Drayton, Lord Mayor of Sheffield, and with an inspiring key note address from WLGS President Baroness Patricia Hollis, the meeting resulted in some key decisions and debates:
For more information about joining the campaign, please contact Anne Baldwin on wlgs2007@googlemail.com or by post to:
34 Cliff Road, Holmfirth, W Yorkshire HD9 1UY