FEWER than a quarter of Wychavon's councillors were female in 2021.

At Wychavon District Council, 10 of 45 councillors in 2021 were female – at 22%, a smaller proportion than was recorded five years ago, when 13  councillors were women.

Recent figures shown by the Fawcett Society and Democracy Club, have shown that women make up just a third of councillors across England's local authorities ahead of International Women's Day (Tuesday 8 March).

Equality campaigners have said more needs to be done to ensure female voices are heard in council chambers and urged more women to stand for election.

Frances Scott, founder of the 50:50 Parliament campaign group, said women have been consistently outnumbered in political systems nationally and called for more to be done to boost the number of female politicians and ensure their voices are heard.

She said: "Women's experiences of local transport, of education, of juggling a career and parenting, of violence, of healthcare and maternity services are simply not properly represented and society is losing out.

“We need to support women to stand for elected office so that our local governments and Parliament can draw upon the widest possible pool of talent and the 32 million women who live and work in the UK can have an equal share of voice."

The number of female councillors across England has grown in recent years, with 6,021 now in council chambers, up from 5,802 in 2017. 

That means 35% of council seats nationally are held by women, up from 33% five years ago.

But Jemima Olchawski, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, described the pace of change in local government as "glacial".

She said: "Almost all councils continue to be dominated by men.

"It's not good enough – we need to see our political parties setting out, and committing to, action plans which will improve diversity and improve society for us all."

In an effort to improve female representation, the Fawcett Society has called for the continuation of remote council meetings and the implementation of maternity policies at all councils.

The Local Government Association, which represents councils, has echoed those calls and is working with local authorities to increase diversity and inclusion.