West Berkshire holds event to recruit more women into local politics
Currently there are only six female councillors on west Berkshire council
West Berkshire council is holding a webinar aimed at attracting women into local politics.
Currently only six women are councillors on a council of forty-three members.
The 'women in politics' webinar aims to answer questions about what it's like to be a councillor.
The event will feature women who represent their communities, from parish councils to the current Leader of West Berkshire Council.
It'll discuss their journeys, why they made those choices, and what they would suggest to women thinking about taking this step.
Council leader Lynne Doherty says getting involved in the council would suit any woman who is community minded:
"The day to day role of a councillor is actually responding to the needs of your residents so I go out and meet with my residents and understand what their issues are and I work with them to try and resolve them and I find that deeply satisfying.
"Sometimes women see things differently to men, I think sometimes our approach is different, I'm not saying it's a negative or a positive it's just a fact of life that sometimes we can be more considered, we cab be more empathetic. That's not to say men aren't, not at all, we can just bring different traits to the role"
Lynne says the main purpose of the webinar is to create a situation where there are more women candidates when the next local elections take place in May next year. But she stresses it's not a political event and she wants women of all political persuasions and backgrounds to consider joining the council:
"We know that women might feel daunted about it. We know that women are often reluctant to put themselves forward and think 'can I actually do this?' 'Do I have something to offer?' Well the answer is 'yes' everyone has something to offer and sometimes people need more encouragement than others, so we really want to open this event up to all women, and when you talk about politics it's a cross-party event and it's certainly not from the political perspective that we're looking at this event.
"We want to encourage anyone who might think they have a role to play in their local community to come forward and ask us questions. Ask about allowances, ask about the amount of hours we have to spend, so that you get a real feel for that and then decide if you want to take the next steps."
To register for the event click here it takes place on Weds 1 June at 7pm.