Although Sheffield Council was run by female Labour leader Coun Jan Wilson for six years until May, men are back in charge after victory by the Lib Dems at the local elections.

Although Jan is still a councillor, the new leader is Coun Paul Scriven.

The Tories also lost a powerful woman in May, when their sole councillor Anne Smith lost her Dore and Totley seat. Meanwhile, Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster are all ruled by men.

A new report says only two councils in Yorkshire have female leaders - Calderdale and Richmondshire.

The Centre for Women and Democracy found just two of the 36 big metropolitan authorities in the midlands and the north are led by women.

Only 59 out of the 385 council leaders in England are women. There are five councils where both the leader and deputy are women - and 224 where both posts are held by men.

And there is only one council where the leader, deputy leader and chief executive are women - and 175 where they are all men.

Nan Sloane, director at the Centre for Women and Democracy, said: "These findings are very disappointing.

"Women pay equal levels of council tax and are significant users of council services, yet they are often unrepresented at the most senior levels of local government. "Women are under-represented in local government generally and only 30 per cent of councillors are female.

"But women also tend to have different areas of experience and different political histories, and they are less likely to be involved in some of the traditional political networks.

"We need to find out what impact this has on their chances of political promotion. There's a lot of work still to do before women are properly represented."

READ MORE
Back to main news index.
Latest video reports
Traffic and travel information.
Check out the jams on Sheffield's traffic cameras.
Today's features.
Books of condolence.
Pictures.
More Barnsley news.
More Rotherham news.
More Doncaster news.