Note: We note that the brief given to the Speaker's Conference directly addresses the question of representation to the House of Commons. Our view, however, is that a from the perspective of local government would facilitate the committee's work. Many MPs are recruited from among the ranks of local councillors—if the problems affecting the under-representation of certain social groups are replicated at the local government level then local government becomes a part of the problem rather than its solution.

  Finding those solutions is not a cost free exercise. Successive surveys of local election candidates clearly demonstrate amongst this group an opposition to positive discrimination measures. Statutory selection quotas for women, BAME and younger people are opposed by the majority. Reserved council seats for currently under-represented groups are similarly opposed. Candidates are against the principle of term limits and a statutory retirement age for councillors. These views are felt across the range of candidates; they are not restricted to male, middle aged and white councillors who perhaps have a self-interest in maintaining the status quo.

  Our evidence is largely restricted to the issue of women's under-representation because much of our electoral data does not record either a candidate's ethnic origin or disability. The position of BAME candidates is, however, addressed in our annual candidate surveys and those findings are reported here. In 2008 our survey found 2.6% of candidates were registered as sick or disabled but the rather small number of cases precludes substantive analysis.

1.  INTRODUCTION

  Despite the efforts of many that advocate increased representation of women in public life their role in most modem liberal democracies is below that expected given their numbers in the population. This is particularly true for women's place as directly elected representatives. In terms of parliamentary elections, before the breakthrough that took place following the 1997 general election, women were seldom selected and even more rarely elected to the House of Commons. It was not until the 1983 election that women candidates comprised more than 10% of the total candidates. It was not until the 1997 election that women comprised more than 10% of successfully elected candidates.

  To date much academic research has focussed on the issues surrounding women's under-representation to national elected office, both within the UK itself and elsewhere. This research has proved valuable in helping to define the nature of the problem affecting women's recruitment to a career in public office and in contributing towards thinking about the ways and means of redressing the imbalances. However, a vital part of the picture has been largely ignored—women's under-representation in local government. This is surprising given that so many MPs still cite experience of serving on local councils before embarking on a career in national politics. Local government is and will continue to be an integral part of the question about why so few women are successful in pursuing a career in politics. Given that, you need to understand what is happening at the local level before you can correctly assess what is going on at the national level.

  It is unsurprising that the place of local government has been neglected. The lack of reliable data affecting the outcome of local elections has undermined efforts to investigate this issue properly. Similarly, there has been no national survey of local election candidates (unlike the intensive research now undertaken for their counterparts that contest parliamentary elections). Finally, there has been little in-depth examination of the experiences of women candidates to local elected office within the UK, an examination that supplies the detail missed by both aggregate and individual level data analysis. Recent research by the LGC Elections Centre at the University of Plymouth aims to fill some important gaps in our knowledge of the situation affecting the under-representation of women in local government in Britain.

  As such it addresses directly a number of fundamental research questions that have hitherto been largely neglected:

— What proportion of women have been selected and elected in local elections?

— Why, after a period of continual increases in women candidates and councillors, has the rate of progress apparently halted such that at the time of writing only 30% of local candidates are women?

— Why do people volunteer to be candidates for local election and are there important and significant differences between the experiences of men and women?

— What are the opinions of present day candidates on the recent attempts to modernise local government?

— And finally, what could be done to redress the current under-representation of women and other under-represented groups as councillors?

  Research that addresses the issue of women's under-representation in national legislatures has focused on a number of key areas, including selection procedures, the resources required to embark upon a career in politics and the different obstacles presented to men and women becoming successful. The first survey of local election candidates was undertaken in 2006 and similar surveys were undertaken in 2007 and again in 2008. Gradually, a more extensive research base will develop and with it a more sophisticated level of understanding about the background, motivation and experience of candidates contesting local elections.

2.  THE EVIDENCE FROM LOCAL ELECTIONS

Women in English Local Government, 1973-2003: Getting selected, getting elected

  Local election returns in England over a thirty year period containing details of over half a million candidates are examined for trends in both the recruitment of women candidates and their relative success in becoming elected.

  Local government has always attracted a higher proportion of women candidates than parliamentary elections in England. This is not unusual for women's representation; the law of minority attrition applies: as the legislative assembly becomes more important, the proportion of women becomes smaller.

  In 1964, 16% of all local election candidates were women, more than three times as many as fought parliamentary seats at the time. Since then, the proportion of women standing has doubled. The rate of increase was especially rapid in the second half of the 1980s.

Determinants of women's (under) representation in elected office

— Systemic factors, including the voting system, district magnitude, the party system, electoral frequency and different types of local authority

— A second set of factors are party political, comprising organisation, rules and ideology

— The gatekeeping role exercised by party elites

— A further factor is socio-economic circumstance, including the individual's access to resources

— This "eligibility pool" is critical because fewer women are located in the customary occupations held by aspiring elected politicians

— Moreover, women are less likely to be encouraged to stand and less likely to perceive themselves as qualified to stand

— Resource pressures are also key deterrents to women standing for local election in the UK

— Women councilors leaving local government complain of difficulties in balancing commitments

Electoral System:

  The proportion of women in PR-elected legislatures, is roughly twice that for majoritarian systems

— Large district magnitudes, as frequently used in PR systems may encourage parties to select both men and women candidates

— Our "first past the post" system at local government level is not restricted to single-member electoral districts and as district magnitude rises more opportunities may arise for women

— Political incumbency, eg. the 2005 UK general election, in almost nine out often constituencies at least one candidate was an incumbent women's representation

— Voters may dislike women candidates?

Research and methodology questions

— Are there differences in trends in the recruitment and election of women among the various types of local authority, county, district and borough?

— Do differences exist in the proportions of women representing political parties in local government?

— Is the variable nature of the electoral cycle relevant, with annual elections offering more decision points for candidates deliberating about whether to stand or not?

— Are the seats that women contest the most likely to result in victory or defeat?

— Are these candidates invariably competing against men incumbents?

— Some local elections use multimember wards/divisions, is there evidence that local parties take advantage of multimember seats, presenting voters with a more gender-balanced ticket?

— Is there "a contagion effect", suggesting parties follow one another in selecting women candidates?

— Is there evidence that women fare differently from men, both in terms of voter support and the length of time served as councillors?

— When women retire from the council are parties more likely to select a woman candidate as replacement?

Women candidates in English local government

— During the seventies the highest proportion of women candidates is in the London boroughs; the lowest proportion in the metropolitan boroughs

— The proportion of women challengers increased during the 1980s and differences between the different types of local authority diminish

— The Liberal Democrats, (including formerly Liberals and the SDP/Liberal Alliance) have chosen proportionally more women than either of the two main parties, Conservative and Labour although the differences are not large

— The proportion of women recently contesting single-member seats at county council elections is lower than for other types of authority. The reasons for this are not yet known.

— There is a statistically recognisable tendency for women candidates to cluster together—a so-called contagion effect. A supply-side explanation may be that women locally are aware of other women deciding to stand and feel it is appropriate that they too should stand

— A demand-led argument might be that local parties observe their rivals' behaviour and when at least one selects a woman then efforts are made also to find a woman candidate.

Women councillors in England local government

— Until 1985, women filled roughly 16% of all seats in local government

— Over the following decade, however, there was an almost uninterrupted rise to 25%

— The London boroughs, originally with the greatest proportion, were later largely matched by both the shire districts and metropolitan boroughs.

— Although women were few in number, they comprised a larger proportion of the Liberal Party's overall representation than either Labour or the Conservative parties

— Conservative women councillors have generally formed a greater proportion of their party's local government membership than have Labour women

— Labour women county councillors (and indeed candidates) are especially scarce

— Electors do not discriminate against women and in some cases we found statistically significant evidence of a positive bias

— In London and districts (those using whole council elections), voters had a statistically significant preference for women candidates among all three main parties

— Across the metropolitan boroughs there was indifference to candidate sex among Conservative and Liberal Democrat voters but Labour voters had a small preference for women

— Furthermore, in multimember wards, ceteris pan bus, women candidates perform well on their party slates

— Political parties do appear to be mindful of at least maintaining the proportion of elected women. When a woman councillor retires efforts are made to find another woman to replace her

3.  THE SURVEY EVIDENCE: LOCAL CANDIDATES

  The findings from the three national surveys (2006-2008) of local election candidates are summarised here. Over the three years the social characteristics of the respondents is broadly similar but notable annual differences are mentioned below.

Who stands for local elections?

  The candidates are:

— Overwhelmingly white, middle-aged and well-educated; this applies equally to men and women

— More than 90% describe themselves as being "white": 93% in 2006, 98% in 2007 and 98% in 2008

— Few candidates are from ethnic minority groups, 7% in 2006, 2% in 2007 and 2% in 2008. (The 2006 elections included London boroughs and this accounts for the higher % that year)

— Over two thirds are men

— Over half of the respondents are graduates

— Almost eight in ten describe their current or former, (if retired) occupational status as professional or managerial

— Nearly two-thirds were currently employed, 38% full time, 11% part time and 16% self- employed

— Over a quarter, 26% are retired in 2006, and this rises to 33% in 2007 and 32% in 2008

— The average age of candidates in 2008 is 54 years. Six in ten of the women respondents are over 50 years old

—

Why do they stand?

— Almost two thirds select wishing to support party

— Being asked to stand is chosen by nearly 60% of candidates

— A significantly higher proportion of women than men select being asked to stand

— Wishing to improve the area for residents is the third most important reason for standing in 2006 but equal first with the desire to help the party in 2008 Almost a quarter of men say it was entirely their own decision to stand compared with less than 10% of women in 2006.

— Almost four in 10 men decide themselves to stand but fewer than three in 10 women do so in 2008.

Candidate recruitment

— Most candidates think that political parties have difficulty finding sufficient candidates.

— Recruiting candidates is linked to a fundamental problem with the public image of local government.

— Nine in ten candidates think there is a general lack of public knowledge about local government

— A very high percentage, 87%, think that local authorities should provide more public information about the work of councillors.

— Men are more likely than women to back the political parties' traditional role in candidate recruitment but most favour parties in the recruitment process

— Women would prefer more intervention from local authorities

— A very high proportion feel that being a councillor is too time-consuming, almost eight in ten women agree that it could be a reason for non-involvement.

Why were they selected?

— Reputation more important than previous political experience and community

— involvement.

— Age, gender and employment history are less important.

— Although women are five times more likely than men to think "gender"

— contributes to selection.

— A third of candidates feel that being prepared to stand as a paper candidate is

— the reason for successful selection.

—

Modernisation of councils

— In principle, many support increased diversity amongst elected members

— More than seven in ten would like to see more younger people selected and elected

— A clear majority believe there should be more councillors from ethnic minority backgrounds

— More than half said there should be more women

— Just over 60% of respondents agree that greater social diversity would improve the public image of councils

— However, a significant higher proportion of women, over 80% of women compared with 58% of men, think that greater social diversity would improve

— the image of local government.

— Less than half respondents agree that greater social diversity would improve voter turnout.

Positive Action for Women?

— Selection from all-women shortlists (AWS) is approved by only 12% Party quotas for women are approved by 26%

— However, women candidates are four times more likely to support AWS and

— nearly three times more likely to approve of party quotas than men

4.  WHAT THE CANDIDATES THINK

  This section contains quotes form the interviews with candidates that contested local elections in the 2006-2008 period.

  Some councillors and candidates spoke about the broader problems for candidate recruitment. One councillor from a metropolitan authority thinks that there is a fundamental problem about councillors that causes all parties to have trouble attracting younger people, BAME and more women to be candidates. People from these groups do not think of themselves as potential councillors:

"Unfortunately you have got to expect that it will be white old men, that is what people think about when they think of councillors. They assume that is what the council is. We must get this out of their minds and change the way it is"

  A male Labour councillor aged 45 thinks that people do not connect with the council unless they see some councillors like themselves. The need for a change of culture within councils and parties is a strand of thought that recurs throughout the interviews and one Conservative London councillor thinks it affects many women:

"Politics is confrontational, women don't like to take this approach, my wife was a councillor for 12 years she loved the ward work but hated committees. Of course, you will find some women who like the cut and thrust of debate and thrive on it but many find it tedious and a waste of time"

  One Conservative district councillor aged 65 thinks the problem is much greater than the shortage of candidates for local elections, it encompasses the public attitude to politicians:

"Nationally politicians at all levels are a big turn-off for most people and this includes councillors. The public perception is that they are in it for money or the ego-trip. The councillors I know are neither, but this idea puts people off, from the start.

"It doesn't help that the national government blame local government and vice versa, this hurts both sides and worsens public opinion. What drove people on years ago was the status of councillors, I don't mean personal status. People regarded councillors well, they could see you worked hard for them. It was a regarded position, it used to be "good on them" for doing this…"

"You need to change this so that people will think the status of councillor is worthwhile. We want people to say, I'd like to do that"

  Several councillors commented that there is a fundamental belief that the practice of politics is confrontational and this style of decision making does not appeal to many women.

  Additionally the public know very little about the workings of local government and the stereotypical image of a councillor is a white middle-aged man, so some women do not think of themselves as suitable councillors.

  Traditional gender roles and separation of home and public spheres are mentioned by one interviewee when talking about the extra barriers that affect Asian women but gender socialisation is very probably an explanatory factor for the under-representation of all women

Colin Rallings, Michael Thrasher, Galina Borisyuk and Mary Shears