Thank you. I think my contribution is more to do with how we get women involved in the first place, but I take your point about the necessity to encourage as many women as possible to come forward and to be used to the kind of rough and tumble of local authority contributions et cetera. But I think it is fair to say that political parties have a role to play in all of this. We’ve already seen significant strides towards achieving and retaining a gender balance here in the National Assembly, but I’m realistic enough to recognise that if it were not for the all-women shortlist policy operated by the Labour Party in Wales, I might not be here today. However, that positive approach by Labour to the selection of women through all-women shortlists and the twinning of constituencies for Assemblies has meant that we now represent more than 50 per cent of our group here in the Assembly, therefore reflecting the gender balance of the electorate as a whole.

But we still have some way to go in securing gender balance in our local councils, and even further to go to achieve fair representation for ethnic minorities, lesbian, gay, transgender and disabled people in our society. So, I particularly welcome the Welsh Government’s initiative set out in the report, such as the local government mentoring programme, the Diversity In Democracy publicity campaign, and the Diversity In Democracy employers scheme and the Door to Democracy fund. There are certainly real challenges to be met, but I believe that these initiatives demonstrate a Welsh Government committed to bringing about a situation where our local councils can be seen to be truly representative of all sections of Welsh society.