ABSTRACT
The relatively low numbers of women in local government, whether it be referred to in terms of problems of recruitment or under-representation, has been apparent throughout the twentieth century, not just in the United Kingdom but in many other countries. A variety of explanations have been put forward for this including discrimination by electors and selectors, a failure on the part of women to present themselves for election and the barriers that discourage women from standing. Yet despite this it is apparent that from the 1970s there has been an increase in the proportion of candidates and councillors who are women. Bochel and Denver (for example, 1992, 1994 and 1995) and Railings and Thrasher (for example, 1997b) have charted these increases for Scotland and England and Wales respectively. In addition, research undertaken by Young and Rao (1994) in England, Scotland and Wales also found that important changes had taken place in respect of councillors’ representation in leadership positions. Their results indicated that women were now proportionately as likely as men to hold senior council positions.
