Part of 2. Questions to the Leader of the House and Chief Whip (in respect of her portfolio responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:58 pm on 6 December 2017.
Thank you. Less than a third of all candidates in the 2017 local government elections were women, and only 27 per cent of those who were elected were women. The Government has consulted recently on electoral reform in the area of local government in Wales, but they were very disappointed to see that there was no mention at all in the consultation paper about the Government’s attempts to ensure fair representation for women in elected roles upon councils in Wales. Of course, political parties have a responsibility to ensure that there is fair representation of women and minority groups on councils within our internal processes of selecting candidates, but do you agree that the Government has missed an opportunity to lead here by not including this as part of the consultation process that was recently held?