Gender and the Experiences of Local Elected Members – A Focus on Wales
Abstract
This article explores the issue of gender in relation to the experiences of local elected members. Member experiences are important as this may be one of the factors which lie behind the under-representation of females women in political life at all levels. This article focuses on the experiences of local elected members in UK local government. This article is focused on Wales where women make up 26 per cent of local councillors, hold only 242 0per cent of cabinet positions and occupy two one Leader positions. . This article reports on the views of male and female councillors from a number of Welsh authorities who, when interviewed, identified very different experiences of elected office. Central to their experiences are their routes into office, personal circumstances and societal influences. The existence of a dominant male political culture is evident and this may have an impact on the participation of women females in local political life.
Introduction
This paper is concerned with the issue of gender and the experiences of local government elected members in the UK. Reviewing this topic at this point is an important and timely one as there is clearly a need to understand more about the position and experiences of female politicians as they are underrepresented in politics. This paper focuses on Wales where 26 per cent of councillors are female in comparison with 331 per cent in England. The proportion of female councillors in Wales was rising steadily until the 2008 elections and since this date, there has been little change. Only 240 per cent of cabinet positions are held by women and there areis currently only two one female council leaders. At the last local election, it appears that more female than male elected members decided not to seek re-election indicating that having served for one term, more females than males are choosing not to remain in office. Capturing their experiences provides the focus of paper and an important background to reaching a gender balance in local government which is central to justice, representation and more effective decision making (Campbell and Childs, 2015; Bochel and Briggs, 2000; Briggs, 2000). The findings are relevant to Wales and have wider applications in other countries both inside and outside the UK where there is an under-representation of women in political positions.
This paper focuses on the experiences of female and male politicians in political office. In an exit survey organised by the Welsh Local Government Association (2012), of those councillors who had decided not to stand for re-election, it was highlighted that whilst members were satisfied with the level of support that they received in relation to their administrative needs, their learning and development and their equipment and facilities, they were much less satisfied with their experiences of working in the political arena. In particular, they identified issues about member relationships, the behaviour of some members and their experiences of the party political group system. Within the survey, responses from female members were particularly striking as they suggested that female councillors were experiencing what they identified as the ‘rough and tumble’ which often involved ‘bad tempered bickering’ and what some identified as “inappropriate, unhelpful or bullying” (WLGA, 2012, p.9). These factors influenced their decision not to stand for re-election.
The aim of this article is to investigate further the issue of gender and the experiences of elected members. Set in the context of Wales, part one examines the context of female councillors in England and Wales and existing evidence on the experiences of male and female councillors both prior to their election and afterwards. In part two, data from a number of semi-structured interviews with male and female councillors is presented and this is analysed in part three. The findings from the research are relevant to understanding more about gender and local democratic processes in England and Wales and key issues relating to improving this are identified.
1. Gender Profiles and Politics
This section focuses on member profiles, recruitment and selection issues and also gender roles within councils. At the end of the Second World War, Hasluck (1948) described local members as predominantly male and middle class. Where councils were successful, it was due to political competition amongst the men, because “closely contested party strife lends a stimulus to each side to put its most capable and effective men into positions of prominence” Hasluck (1948, p.337). It was not until 1967 that the make up of councils was officially measured and the disparity noted. Maud (1967, p.135) highlighted that “it is clear that members do not reflect the community in terms of age, sex occupation or education”. According to Maud, women made up 12 per cent of councillors in England and Wales in 1964 and by 1976, this had risen to 17per cent.
Up until the mid-1980s, all the available data refers to councillors in England and Wales. The first information about councillors specifically in Wales highlights that in 1986, 10 per cent of councillors were women compared to 20 per cent in England and 19 per cent in Scotland (Widdicombe 1986). It was more than a decade later before any form of regular information gathering about the profiles of members took place. In 1998, the LGMB (1998) undertook a member survey which applied to both England and Wales. It showed that 27per cent of councillors in England and Wales were female and in Wales, the numbers had risen to 20per cent. More recent data is available in England and this highlights that female councillors represent 29per cent of all councillors in 2002, 29per cent in 2004, 29per cent in 2006, 30per cent in 2008, and 31 per cent in 2010 and 33 per cent in 2013 (LGA, 2002 2004, 2006, 2010, 2013). This data is for England only as the response from Welsh authorities was too low to be included. Data about councillors in Wales has been provided by Brooks and Ap Gareth (2013) indicating that the figures for Wales are 18 per cent in 1999, 22 per cent in 2004, 25 per cent in 2008 and 26 per cent in 2012. A count by the WLGA in 2016 shows that this percentage is still at 26 per cent. According to Thrasher and Rallings (2004, p.11), Wales “lags behind both England and Scotland in the proportion of women candidates fighting local elections”.
Concern at the under representation of women females, led the new Minister for Local Government and Social Justice, to commissioned an ‘Expert Group’ to examine the issues affecting equal representation in 2013. A number of recommendations were made by the group including the need to ensure that the data collected allowed valid UK comparisons. It was suggested that information from potential candidates should be gathered to find out why they decided not to stand in situations where they decided against standing to find out why should be collected together with ‘exit’ interviews polls with councillors who had decided to stand down (Welsh Government, 2014).
The reasons behind candidates standing for office have been identified in previous research. According to Elcock, (1994, p.71), some people stand to compensate for a lack of job satisfaction in their working lives as a result of insufficient educational opportunities “working class councillors who failed to realise their intellectual potential during their education and therefore have jobs which they find insufficiently interesting or demanding”. Leach et al. (1994) identify status, power and material benefits as motivators, together with loyalty to political parties or commitment to a geographical area. According to the Councillors Commission, some stand in order to serve the community or because they had received an invitation to. Rallings et al.’s (2010) data indicates that women are the group who are more likely to be asked to stand than men as they are least likely to put themselves forward. in the first place.
Rallings et al. (2010) describe the recruitment process in most parties as a ‘closed network’ where candidates are selected from those who are party members. They have to be ‘approved’ by the local group and be successful in a selection interview. The recruitment networks used by political parties tend to be closed, which means they are confined to existing local political group members. Evidence suggests that women are reluctant to stand for office. An Irish study of female councillors by Wilford et al. (1993) explored why this might be. They suggested that potential female candidates lacked the confidence to stand. They were more likely to prioritise family needs which they considered to be in conflict with council meetings scheduled during the day. The issues of confidence and family priorities are also noted by Rao (2000, p.52) who suggests that women are underrepresented in UK political life due to the roles and expectations they adopt. She comments that “women are not coming forward in great numbers … are socialised not to pursue certain occupations… and are portrayed as not having the time or energy necessary to give to public life, nor the political contacts to embark on political life”. Rao’s (2000) research also finds that women can be discriminated against in local power structures and are reluctant to participate in it. Data into the incentives for and barriers to people standing for office provided by the Independent Councillors Commission (2007) suggests that people do not stand because they do not understand what local councillors do and believe that they are too busy to take on the role. The Commission also found that in England, black and minority ethnic women are underrepresented in comparison with men from the same communities. They suggest that a culture exists which discourages women from becoming politically active.
In 2011 the Equality and Human Rights Commission commissioned research to “explore the relationship between common pathways into politics and underrepresentation of groups protected by the Equality Act (2010)” (Durose et al., 2011, p.v). This article found that diversity is important for justice, effectiveness and legitimacy. The report examined the barriers facing diverse groups and individuals seeking nomination, selection and election, the factors that help people enter politics and the role of political parties and institutions in supporting diversity. It found that barriers included the time required for the role, the financial costs involved and the influence of the “archetypal candidate” Durose et al. (2011, p.12).This archetypal candidate which apparently people expect to see in the role is usually white, male, professional and university educated. The notion of the archetypal male candidate is reinforced by Allen (2012, p.711) who considers the recruitment and retention of women councillors in terms of supply (the low number of women coming forward for selection) and demand (the limited desire of parties to select women when they come forward). He suggests that both of these factors combine to create a “feedback loop which reinforces the image and perception of politics as a male dominated field that often treats women as unwelcome intruders”. Allen (2012) also found that women are more likely to drop out after just one or two terms as a councillor than their male counterparts. When they do leave their councillor roles, women are more likely to take up community roles in contrast to men who drop out in order to pursue a career higher up in politics. The reasons for standing down are again given as a lack of time to do the job and the negative impact on work and family life. Women are also less interested in standing for office as Hansard’s Audit of Political Engagement (2013) suggests. It found that men are more interested in becoming involved in local decision making (51per cent compared to 45per cent among women).
The proportion of female MPs increased in the 2015 UK Parliament, increasing from 22-29%. This change it is argued was due to both the Labour party and the Scottish National Party’s increase in female members. Regarding Labour, its use of quotas in the form of all-women short lists was an important factor promoting female MPs and regarding the SNP, “their landslide victory resulted in the party increasing their representation in Parliament from 6 to 56 MPs” (Campbell and Childs, 2015, p.221).
Councillor roles can be broadly divided into community work, community representation to the council, community leadership, work in the various committees of the council on behalf of the authority as a whole (decision making) and ensuring that the council is properly run (WLGA 2011). Rao (1998) suggests that councillors are very aware of the different aspects of their role, particularly the split between decision making and representation. Rao suggests that the majority of councillors prefer their representative work but spend the majority of their time on council and committee meetings. Due to the culture in local government, she believes that this is an activity which is more geared to male preferences, but provides no evidence for this. Stokes (2005) agrees with this position saying that women are more interested in representing their constituents than committee work. The involvement of females in particular in constituency matters is an issue picked up in the recent article by Thrasher et al. (2015, p.20) where it is argued that “the lack of women in senior roles in local government, may not simply be a function of social constraints but also because women councillors are perceived as more approachable and effective than men in resolving issues”.
Existing research has recorded the different role of members on UK councils on the basis of gender and found that 16per cent of leaders, 27per cent of deputy leaders, 30per cent of mayors, 24per cent of committee chairs and 20per cent of party leaders were women (LGMB 1998). The survey also suggested that there was a gender divide in the service areas which female councillors were responsible for. It was highlighted that women were relatively underrepresented on central committees including policy, finance, legal and IT and over represented on housing, social services and health. These committee preferences are also found in Yule’s (2000) study of female councillors in England in the 1980s.
The Centre for women and Democracy (2011) has produced an annual report on the gender breakdown of local authority leaders in England since 2007. The report shows that in 2010/11, 26per cent of cabinet or executive members are women. Of these, the main portfolios for women are health, social services and housing. Male colleagues are more likely to lead on corporate services, regeneration and education. It is highlighted that male councillors are more likely to progress to being Leaders of their authorities as a result of this experience.
The picture in Wales shows again a lower representation among women in senior roles. A Review of each of the authorities in 2012 shows cabinet and committee membership in Wales following the 2012 elections and the data indicates that out of a potential 195 cabinet roles which were filled at the time, women held 20per cent of these (Balsom 2012). In 2016, a review of authorities shows that women now hold 24 per cent out of a potential 187 cabinet positions so there has been an improvement. The profiles in 2012 range from none in four councils to women occupying half of all positions in another. Bridgend, Conwy, Merthyr and Anglesey (although the position in Conwy has now changed to 2 women cabinet members) to 5 out of 10 in Carmarthenshire. In 2016, there are still no women in the cabinet in one council but all other councils have at least one woman member on them and there is one council where 60 per cent of all the seats are occupied by women. March 2014, following the resignation of the female leader in Cardiff, there is now only one female leader, out of a potential 22 positions in Wales.
Much of the debate around the impact of gender on local councillors centres on the underrepresentation of women. This raises the question of why this is the case. The answers are clearly useful to this study as this may be due to their different experience of the role and contribute to the discussions on how less positive experiences could be remedied.
In relation to the barriers to becoming an elected member, Linsley et al. (2006) suggest that some of these particularly affect women. It seems that women believe that they do not have the time for a role in public office, or choose to prioritise different aspects such as family or work. The authors identify the difficulties inherent in maintaining a balance between personal life, work and a council role. Time and prioritisation are two of the issues focused on in the Expert panel review. The Chair brought her own first hand experience of the role and its challenges, saying, “having been a councillor for nine years whilst juggling a job and the demands of a young family, I am only too aware of the time commitment involved and the impact that the role can have on career prospects and family life” (Welsh Government 2014, p.1). In contrast, whilst some women might struggle to engage in council activities because of these priorities, some men appear to make a virtue of attendance. The Centre for Women and Democracy (2011, p.39) identify ‘macho presenteeism’ which is described as the tendency for members who display macho characteristics to work long hours and attend meetings at any time.