- Feature Archive
- Women in Governance Report
Women in Governance Report
Why are so few elected local councillors women? And why do so few of those that are in office seem able to make their voices heard?
A report, commissioned by NWTWC in 2009, got to the heart of women’s experience of elected politics and pointed to how things could be different.
It’s a sobering statistic that less than one in three (29%) of the almost 20,000 elected local councillors in England and Wales are women.
The Gender Equality Duty means that public bodies must understand why such inequalities exist and take action to overcome them.
NWTWC commissioned a report by the GAP Unit that captured the views of female councillors from across the North West. The report maked thought-provoking reading in which women’s experiences of becoming involved in politics and their opinions of the realities of working within the system provided an informative snapshot of what can prevent equal representation.
Over 60 councillors from different political parties across 26 authorities participated in the research.
