Ros writes in Women Liberal Democrats, November 2007

Women in politics

I never think of myself as a minority - indeed why should I - white, middle aged and female - we are everywhere aren’t we?

Well, no actually. Not in the council chambers where I spent 15 years of my life nor in Parliament where I am now a life peer. In these areas women still make up only one quarter of the membership. Nor is this some aberration on the part of the public sector or a simple prejudice on the part of political parties and voters. As a non executive director of two private sector companies, I am in  even more of a minority - around 8% . I am a Board member of a company just about to mark its 250th year in business, and I am the first ever female Board member.

It’s tempting to play the down trodden minority card, and  blame it all on a societal conspiracy, but that doesn’t actually progress us very far does it?  I’d rather reflect on some personal thoughts in the hope that they resonate, if not with all readers, at least  enough to make it worthwhile reading on.

I am, by any definition, a successful woman. But you know, it doesn’t always feel that way. I have always struggled to generate enough internal confidence to do the things I do, and have always needed to know that I have the confidence of others.   Like most women, I fret about forgetting birthdays, imperfect housekeeping and hasty meals, taken on the hoof. Mentors  have  always mattered to me, and I suspect do to most women. This doesn’t have to be a formalised mentoring scheme - occasional words of encouragement  and understanding can go a very long way. When I was dithering about standing for election to the County Council, a chance word from Jane Ashdown, in a chat between strangers in the queue for coffee at Conference, made all the difference.

  I apologise for what  may be a sweeping generalisation, but   it seems to me that on the whole, women prefer to DO things rather than BE things. Women work tirelessly in their local communities, indeed that’s  where I started , being on the playgroup committee, on the PTA, setting up  a toy library.   What made the difference to me was that someone, in this case a Lib Dem activist, saw the link between that work, and being a councillor.  It would not have been an obvious connection to me, after all councils meant politics and that meant men being rude to each other and not achieving anything .Once I realised that  it was possible to make a genuine contribution to my community by becoming a councillor then I didn’t hesitate, but I needed it to be spelled out for me and  above all, I needed to be asked.

I often wonder if this isn’t part of the reason we have such problems with representation at Westminster level too. I was never tempted to run for Westminster, partly because I didn’t think that the role of a PPC offered enough opportunity to genuinely influence matters in my area, and partly because, if successful, it would have meant working in the bear pit of the House of Commons. Had I focussed more on the constituency aspect of the work, I might have felt differently.

The situation for women from the BME communities is a disgrace - there are only 168 female councillors from ethnic minority backgrounds - less than one per cent of the total.  In many cases they face cultural barriers  which discourage women from participation in what is traditionally seen as men’ s work.   Practical support, for example with caring responsibilities, is non existent in many councils.   Sadly, not all women who have got into local government  themselves are sufficiently motivated to help others to achieve similar aims.

This year we mark the centenary of the legislation which allowed women to become councillors for the first time. It’s taken a very long time to get to 25% representation in local government, but there are bright spots on the horizon. In Islington,  two thirds of the controlling Liberal Democrat Group are female, the only majority female controlling group in the UK. It hasn’t happened by chance - Islington has recognised that women need encouragement to stand for election and have headhunted good female candidates.

We know that women care passionately about their local communities and have many of the skills required to be great councillors. Lets make sure that Islington becomes the norm, and not a shining exception.