'Women in the South-West are under-represented' (From Bridgwater Mercury)

'Women in the South-West are under-represented'

2:40pm Monday 18th May 2009

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WOMEN in the South-West are vastly under-represented in the region’s top positions of power across the public and private sectors, research has found.

A study carried out by the South West TUC and Equality South West shows that in politics, business, media and culture, the region is lagging behind the national average.

The research was inspired by the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s annual Sex and Power report.

Nigel Costley, regional secretary of the South West TUC, said: “This shows how far we’ve got to go to achieve real equality. We have to continue to break down the barriers in public and private life so that women can play their full part.

“We have to end the boys’ clubs of senior positions, break down the segregation of labour markets and eliminate discrimination wherever it exists.”

The worst statistics are in the police force and the media, with no women chief or deputy chief constables in the region and no women editors of daily newspapers. In business, just one of the West Country’s top 50 companies has a woman chief executive.

Nationally the figures are 11.9% women for senior police officers, 13.6 % for newspapers and 11% for business.

In politics, eight out of the 47 South-West MPs (17%) are women, compared to 19.3% nationally.

Labour leads the way with 39% (five of their 13 MPs are women) while of the Conservative’s 22 MPs, just one (5%) is a woman.

Only one of the region’s seven MEPs is a woman (14.3%), compared to 25.6% nationally.

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