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Inspiring women into public life |
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How can we inspire more women to enter into public life and stand in local elections? A London Councils seminar next week aims to find out.
‘Inspiring women into public life’ takes place on the afternoon of Wednesday 28 March. The event will bring together a range of successful women to talk about their motivations for entering, and their experiences in, public life.
This year is the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to stand as local councillors. However, despite decades of progress in securing women’s rights less than a third of councillors in the UK are women, while, in some individual councils, the proportion is below 20 per cent and falling.
To celebrate both the anniversary and International Women’s Day, London Councils has organised the seminar to discuss ways of encouraging more women to enter into public life and stand in local elections.
Speakers will include:
· Dame Jane Roberts, Chair of the newly formed Councillors Commission, which was set up to look at ways to encourage more people from a wider range of backgrounds to play a leading role in their communities
· Councillor Anjana Patel, London Councils’ Lead Member for Equalities and seminar chair
· Baroness Margaret Prosser, Deputy Chair of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights
· Councillor Meral Ece, Chair of the Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats
· Councillor Lurline Champagnie, Harrow’s first Black Mayor
· Sam Smethers, Director of Public Affairs, Equal Opportunities Commission
Councillor Anjana Patel said:
“It is clear that, in this, the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to stand in local elections, far more needs to be done to inspire them into public life. If we want local government to truly represent the communities it serves then we must work to eradicate the perceived barriers that prevent more women from standing at election.
“We hope that this seminar serves as a starting point so that together we can identify why so many women are put off from entering into public life. At the same time we can use the experiences of this range of successful women to find out how best we can inspire more women to follow their example, and play a major role in representing their communities.”
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