Woke ‘presiding person’ fails to oust ‘chairman’

A CAMPAIGN to replace the word ‘chairman’ at a local council with a genderneutral alternative has been blocked for being ‘woke nonsense’.

Labour and independent councillors at South Kesteven District Council in Lincolnshire wanted to change its constitution to create a ‘presiding person’.

They said it would promote equality, and claimed that accusations of ‘wokeness’ hindered progress.

But the idea was voted down on Monday after being met with scorn by opponents, who said it amounted to ‘policing language’ and argued that the term ‘chairman’ denoted authority.

Conservative councillor Ben Green said: ‘We must stop this woke nonsense.’

Several women who head committees said they preferred to be chairmen. Sue Woolley added: ‘I don’t think the title demeans anyone. It adds gravitas.’

It comes after police in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire were told to stop calling people ‘Sir’ or ‘Ma’am’ and use gender-neutral forms of address instead. LGBT+ support officers were advised to use terms such as ‘you’, ‘everyone’ and ‘all’.