Calls made for more women on Powys council after new figures revealed

But councillors working in mid Wales say their new female leader may encourage more women to come forward.

Around 26 per cent of positions within the cabinet on local authorities are hold by females, figures from the Electoral Reform Society have shown, compared to 30 per cent on English councils.

In Wales Vale of Glamorgan and Blaenau Gwent councils have all white male cabinets.

In Powys County Council, three women make up the cabinet, including councillors Rachel Powell, Myfanwy Alexander and leader Rosmarie Harris, who this year became the councils first female leader.

Of the 73 county councillors, only 23 are women and that is something that needs to change – according to Newtown county councillor Joy Jones.

She wants to see more women in councillor roles and cabinet positions and says more needs to be done to encourage women to come forward at election time.

She said: "I think there should be equal representation on the council now, it is essential that women's views are recognised.

"The suffragettes stood strong to get us a vote, and I think we should stand strong to get more females on the council.

"For me the cabinet is too male top heavy and that is something that needs to change because it has always been like that.

"As female councillors we need to show others that it is possible to get an equal amount of women on the council.

"Having Rosemarie Harris on the council as the leader is fantastic and I hope this will make a big difference in the way that the council operations over the next five years."

After May's local elections, the figures have shown that 50 women were in positions on Welsh cabinets, compared to 188 men.

The number of female leaders is now four out of 22, however councils such as Caerphilly, Newport and Rhondda had 40 per cent of women in top jobs.

Forden councillor Linda Corfield, who has held her seat since 2008, says the number of women will only increase if women come forward and go for roles in the council.

She said: "It is up to the individual to come forward and go for a councillor role.

"I think there are a number of reasons such as having children and grandchildren, which men also do, but that could be why women aren't coming forward.

"It is a huge responsibility especially being on the council, it is more than a full time job so maybe that is what puts some people off.

"Hopefully as women councillors now we can inspire people to come forward, but at the end of the day it is down to an individual male or female to decide if they want to do the job or if they can do the job."

Powys leader, Councillor Harris believes there should be a balance on the cabinet to bring in new ideas and to represent the whole of of the county.

She added: "It is vital for the future of local democracy that we encourage residents from all backgrounds, all ages, sexes and all social groups to get involved in local government and take leading roles in decision making.

“Almost anyone can be a local councillor and it is important that we encourage a range of different people from different backgrounds to represent local communities.

"It is a challenging role but one that can be very rewarding and it is important that we do all that we can to be representative of our communities.

“As Powys’ first female leader I believe it is important to have a cabinet with a blend of experience, new ideas and one that represents all parts of the county.”