11 April 2022
I attended my first Council meeting around 2005. Since then I have attended numerous meetings, from Full Council to Scrutiny meetings. Thinking back, it is really noticeable how much more combatative local politics in the Borough has become. After the first meeting, when several of us from the local Friends of the Earth group attended as recycling was on the agenda, Cllr Harry Cawthorne, the then leader of the Conservative group, went across the road with us to The Jailhouse to continue the conversation. I couldn’t imagine that happening now, and yet, so many things could be resolved/agreed with a bit of friendly discussion over a cup of tea or a pint. I still am an optimist that things can change for the better and this is why I continue to stand in elections to be a Councillor. One thing that often crosses my mind is would it be better on the Council with a better gender balance? My personal opinion is an emphatic ‘Yes’! There is plenty of research out there to suggest that women are, amongst other things, more likely than men to seek compromise in negotiation. This can only be a good thing – in a world full of differing views, compromise is often required to keep the majority happy.
On the existing Council, there are 9 out of 34 Councillors who are female. Hardly a good proportion, compared to the population. Of those who are up for possible re-election, only one is standing again. What does this say? Maybe nothing, but actually, I think it says a lot. The Council chamber is frequently not a pleasant place to be. Policies should be able to be questioned but, a lot of the time, it is the person giving their view that is attacked, sometimes in a veiled way, sometimes quite openly. When I have put in complaints about the behaviour, it is invariably dismissed as 'political tit-for-tat'. I am sure that some feel unable to stand up to this and simply bow out of politics instead.
It is interesting looking at the balance of candidates standing in the forthcoming local elections.
Of the Conservatives, only 2 of their 17 candidates are female. For Labour it is 4 out of 17 and for the Greens it is 7 out of 15. I hope other parties look at these figures and ask themselves why this might be - Do they actively encourage women? Are their meetings welcoming? How are women who do attend treated? Obviously I have never attended another Party’s internal meetings so I don’t know the answers. I should add that I am not in favour of quotas and people should be in their positions on merit but there must be many capable women who are simply not wishing to get involved as they see the toxic atmosphere in the Council chamber. As Greens we see the opportunities for all and believe NBBC would be a better place with an even/near even gender balance.