Female councillors have called for action to improve the representation of women in North Yorkshire local government.

Just 24 out of the 90 councillors elected on May 5 to serve on North Yorkshire County Council for a year and four years on its unitary council successor are women. This equates to just under 27%.

The proportion roughly reflects the 26% of female councillors previously elected to North Yorkshire County Council and the 29% of female candidates standing in the election.

All the main political parties fielded significantly fewer women candidates than men, a situation which was also replicated by the Independent candidates as a group.

Ahead of the polls, equality campaigners said the imbalance would make it “nigh-on impossible” for those elected to reflect the population they serve — unlike neighbouring local authorities such as Leeds, Durham and East Riding, where respectively more than 50%, 38% and 36% of councillors are women.

However, other largely rural county councils such as Devon, Norfolk and Cumbria all have fewer than 30% female councillors.

When asked why the proportion of women elected in North Yorkshire last week was low, numerous female councillors said they were at a loss to explain it and would welcome a council scrutiny committee investigation into the reasons.

Responding to the election results, Scarborough councillor Liz Colling, a Labour member, said:

“I always think action should be taken to encourage women to speak up to feel empowered to act as voices for their community.”

Cllr Janet Sanderson, who was the sole woman serving on the council’s 10-member decision-making executive before the election, said it was important to select candidates on merit rather than gender.

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The Thornton Dale Conservative member said to encourage more women to put themselves forward in future, it was crucial to get the conditions right for women to serve as she had faced aggression from people making complaints.

Cllr Sanderson said:

“As a woman I would feel terribly aggrieved if I thought I had been put on a shortlist because I was a woman.

“The whole environment needs to change. It’s a very male-dominated arena and a lot of women would need a lot of confidence before they put themselves up for that, which is a great shame.”

Upper Dales councillor Yvonne Peacock said in her 23 years as a Tory councillor she had never encountered issues as a woman, and that meetings had even been rearranged to ensure she could carry out a school run minibus service.

Calls for ‘better balanced’ executive

Experienced councillors Caroline Goodrick, who secured the Sheriff Hutton seat as an Independent by just seven votes, and Janet Jefferson, who were both handed leading committee roles by the last administration, said they hoped the new executive would have a better balance.

Cllr Goodrick said:

“I’m a great believer that it should be more representative of the spread of the electorate and I’m not sure the result achieved that, but I’m also a believer in democracy and the electorate get what they vote for.”

Scarborough Independent councillor Jefferson said she had never encountered any gender bias at County Hall.

She added:

“I would welcome an inquiry as I would like to know the reason why we get more predominance of men than women because I would have thought it was an even playing field.”

Harrogate District Hospital has unveiled rainbow crossings to welcome LGBTQ+ patients, visitors and staff.

The hospital has painted three crossings so far and plans to add a further two crossings.

It hopes the crossings “act as a visual symbol of inclusion” and “enhances the work we’ve been doing” to better support LGBTQ+ people.

During the last year Harrogate hospital has launched three staff networks for LGBTQ+, BAME and disabled staff.

We’re delighted with our freshly painted rainbow Pride crossings (the first three of five) at Harrogate District Hospital.
They send a message that the hospital – and the Trust as a whole – is an open, inclusive and non-judgemental place for LGBTQ+ patients, visitors and staff. pic.twitter.com/z69vEUTmQo

— Harrogate NHS FT (@HarrogateNHSFT) October 11, 2020

Stonewall, which campaigns for LGBTQ+ rights, found that LGBTQ+ people face widespread discrimination in healthcare settings.

Some NHS trusts and national NHS bodies have made it onto Stonewall’s top 100 employers over the past decade.

Harrogate and District NHS Trust hope its launch of rainbow badges and the appointment of its first equality and diversity lead will help it make it on the list.

A Care Quality Commission inspection in 2019, which rated HDFT as good overall, found a lack of diversity at senior level and said senior leaders “were aware that they need to undertake more work”.

A spokesperson for HDFT said:

“We’re delighted with our freshly painted rainbow Pride crossings at Harrogate District Hospital. They send a message that the hospital – and the trust as a whole – is an open, inclusive and non-judgemental place for LGBTQ+ patients, visitors and staff.”