Diversity crisis a ‘hammer blow for local democracy’
In last week’s local elections, 1,254 new councillors were elected. Of those just 359 are women. Chief reporter Martin Shipton reports on claims of a diversity crisis harming local democracy...
POLITICAL parties have been urged to redouble attempts to increase the proportion of women councillors in Wales.
The call follows analysis that showed only 27% of successful candidates in last week’s elections are female.
Gender equality charity Chwarae Teg and Wales’ leading pro-democracy organisation, ERS Cymru, have found that of 1,254 newly-elected councillors just 359 are women.
The results follow stark warnings before the elections of a diversity crisis in our councils.
In Ynys Mon only 10% of councillors are female, while Blaenau Gwent and Ceredigion also show a “startlingly low” proportion of female members at just below 12% each.
The figures show a severe lack of progress from the 2012 elections, where 26% of councillors were women, with female representation flatlining.
Jess Blair, director of ERS Cymru, said: “These results have confirmed our fears that councils across Wales will be once again overwhelmingly dominated by men for the next five years.
“With barely a quarter of councillors being women, the full range of talents and experiences we have in Wales will simply not be reflected in our councils.
“Ultimately this is a hammer blow for local democracy, with voters not being effectively mirrored by the people supposed to represent them. The failure of parties and local authorities to take action to encourage and facilitate more women becoming councillors lets voters down and does Welsh politics a huge disservice.”
Ms Blair said the lack of female representation was part of a “broader democratic malaise” in Wales’ local authorities: “Let’s not forget that 93 seats were uncontested at this election, while many feel their votes do not count. Alongside an outdated voting system and low levels of public knowledge about politics, it’s not a recipe for positive politics.
“The low levels of turnout at last week’s election are another sign of this. But it is no wonder so few people vote in local elections when councils continue to be dominated by councillors that do not reflect the communities they serve”.
Cerys Furlong, chief executive of Chwarae Teg, said: “These figures show that political parties have not taken the need for equality and diversity in local government seriously. It is no longer acceptable for parties to say they support diversity without making the necessary changes to ensure equality is achieved.
“I find it frankly embarrassing that so little progress has been made on this issue, and that in the 21st Century we seem content to allow the status quo to persist, where women’s voices are largely absent from decision making in our councils.
“Prior to the election we warned of a diversity crisis looming and that is absolutely what we can see now. The time for warm words has passed, and we need to see clear and firm action from all political parties in Wales. That needs to start today to ensure that by the next local election in 2022, all parties are fielding a diverse range of candidates, representative of the communities they serve and 50% of the population who are women.”
A breakdown by political party shows that the Liberal Democrats have the highest proportion of female councillors at 33.9%. Labour has 32.4%, Conservatives 28.1%, Plaid Cymru 26.2% and Independents 20.9%.
The highest proportion of female councillors in Wales is 41.7% in Swansea, closely followed by Rhondda Cynon Taf at 41.3%. Both are Labour-controlled.
Labour has issued general guidance to local selection panels which says that in “winnable wards” with two or three members, at least one candidate must be a woman.
A spokeswoman for Plaid Cymru said: “We’re aware that we need to do more.
“What we’re finding is that in areas where we already have prominent female politicians, it’s easier to get more women candidates standing. A lot of longstanding councillors are men, and we’re not going to deselect them because they’re men.”