This International Women’s Day we look at gender equality in UK political representation. In the century since women could vote and serve as MPs, progress towards equality has been snail-like. It has been even longer since women could become local councillors. In 1907, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was one of the first to be elected to Aldeburgh council in Suffolk. Yet in the 21st century, local councils are still male-dominated, and this affects whether councils can work well for everyone.
Two years ago I wrote about equal representation for women in politics. Only 29% of East Anglian MPs were female. Has anything changed?
How many MPs are women?
That percentage is the same today – 17 out of 58 East of England MPs are women, lower than the national average of nearly 35%.
For Conservative MPs nationally, only 25% are women, compared to Labour’s 52%. The low proportion of female MPs in East Anglia is probably because so many are Conservative – 50 out of 58.
Change may be afoot
It may change in the upcoming general election if all political parties positively promote putting up female candidates in winnable constituencies. Fewer women – 561 – have ever been MPs than the 650 MPs who sit in the Commons today.
What about councillors?
In 2018, research found that only 30% of local councillors in the East of England were women. This compares poorly with the national figure of 41%.
Why? Are there barriers?
There are practical obstacles and outdated attitudes.
A woman – who I’ll call Dee – who serves on an East Anglian council spoke to me about her experiences. Her majority Conservative council mainly comprises older men. She said that over time, she’d been subjected to behaviour inappropriate between professional colleagues.
Men had commented on her appearance: one said he found her presence ‘distracting’. Another said he didn’t expect her to understand the issues being debated. An older male councillor who sat next to her in meetings had often placed his hand on her leg. And yet another made comments about her dress; after that she decided to wear only baggy clothes and trousers.
Conduct in council meetings is often abrasively combative. It can resemble the behaviour of PMQs in Parliament with men braying and jeering at others’ suggestions. Dee says, “It’s sad that some women start behaving like this in order to be heard or taken seriously. Or they just stay quiet.” She’d prefer a more respectful, collaborative atmosphere.
Challenging
A conversation with ‘Val’, another councillor on a different male-majority council in East Anglia, also revealed practical obstacles.
Meetings start at 6pm – a challenge for working parents – and can last over three hours. There’s a baby-sitting allowance but Val can’t use it as no babysitter will work for the council rate.
Finding an affordable babysitter for all dates is difficult because although the main council agenda is fixed a year in advance, other sessions can be haphazardly slotted in. Val says her allowance barely covers childcare costs. It’s rare to find a council with a maternity leave policy.
Another issue during meetings is toilet breaks. For older people or pregnant women it’s a long time. There are no set breaks; the whole proceedings must be paused. Also Val can’t eat until very late. She says it’s easier if you don’t work, hence all the retired members.
Val would like the council to be open to more remote or hybrid meetings as during the pandemic, but this happens rarely.
Attitudes
Val has noticed differing attitudes towards the few women members. The well-meaning Chair refers to the men by their occupations or skillsets, but calls her a ‘young mum’, and doesn’t even seem to know her qualifications or career.
With regard to the work, Val notices the women do more casework than the men. She likes helping residents, for example, single parents in substandard living accommodation. Her male colleagues seem to enjoy the meetings more.
She perceives existing structures in debates as ‘male-oriented’: speech after speech. More collaboration and interactivity would be productive and would probably happen with more women, Val thinks.
‘A battle’
Do the men treat the women differently? Val remembers an uncomfortable moment when a male councillor put his hand on her shoulder and then it moved right down her back. Would he have done that to a man? She thinks probably not.
The men agree more women are needed. But they say, “Well if women don’t put themselves forward, what can we do?” Val says that she finds it a battle, and they should work out why women don’t stand. “I don’t believe women aren’t curious about council work,” says Val.
What can be done?
The Fawcett Society, the UK’s leading charity campaigning for gender equality, has called, amongst other measures, for:
- Councils to provide comprehensive support for childcare and adult care costs,
- Councils to use technology for councillors to attend meetings remotely,
- Codes of conduct against sexism to be introduced.
These measures could encourage more women to stand. At the least, they would also make life easier for men with family responsibilities.
A catch-22
The council system as it stands presents a vicious circle. Women are a minority – 35% – on councils partly because they find it difficult to commit the time to it. The needs of children, aged relatives and often full-time jobs militate against having the time and energy for meetings and dealing with residents’ issues.
Then, by the same token, the issues affecting women constituents (childcare, elderly care, public transport, community safety) are often not prioritised in council policy making as the majority of (older, male) councillors often don’t experience these problems themselves.
This needs to change. Check how many female candidates are standing for your council this May.
