A campaign to boost the numbers of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) women in local government has been launched. The Government Equalities Office (GEO) recently (26 June, 09) held an event at the Chiltern District Council Offices to promote the campaign that hopes to see better community representation in UK councils.
Speaking at the event, Cllr Humaira Khan, who in 2003 was elected as a Lib Deb councillor for Windsor and Maidenhead, said: “The most rewarding aspect of being a councillor is meeting people on a daily basis and being placed in a position of having the power to a make a difference to people’s lives. We want to encourage women to come forward and play their part in making a difference within their community. ”
A cross-party taskforce set up in 2008 is behind the initiative. It is led by first Bengali woman councillor and first woman Muslim member of the House of Lords, Baroness Uddin of East London’s Bethnal Green and aims to bring up the number of BAME female representation, which currently sits at 149 out of approximately 20,000 across the country.
