Less than a quarter of Reform local election candidates are women, analysis shows
The analysis was carried out by Dr Hannah Bunting, who runs the University of Exeter’s Elections Centre
The introduction of Reform candidates across the country in this year’s local elections threatens to widen the councillor gender gap, new analysis suggests.
Less than a quarter of Reform candidates in next week’s elections are women, data shows. The Conservative Party has not quite hit 30 per cent while around 40 per cent of Green Party and Labour representatives are female.
Around a third of Liberal Democrat, independent and locally-focused party candidates are women.
The analysis, by Dr Hannah Bunting, who runs the University of Exeter’s Elections Centre, shows how an increase in the number of parties fielding candidates is likely to have a big impact on the outcome of this year’s local elections. There is already troublingly-low levels of turnout in council contests and a gender imbalance among those elected.
This year there are 1400 wards with 1641 vacancies in 23 councils in England. There are between 55 and 98 seats being contested per authority, some of which have had boundary changes. There are 8,138 candidates overall, an average of 5 per vacancy.
Reform are contesting the most seats at 99.3%, but this does not count candidates who have since been suspended, followed by the Conservatives on 97.2%, Labour on 94%, LibDems 85.1% and the Greens on 72.2%.
Previously shire counties had the greatest gender imbalance among those standing for election. This year is the same, a third of candidates are women overall (compared to 34.8% and 35.4% in 2023 and 2024). Women make up less than 40% of candidates in every authority holding elections and in two (Lincs and Staffs), this is less than 30%.
Dr Bunting said: “Reform have lower levels of female candidates – less than a quarter – than the Conservatives – not quite 30 per cent. The Greens and Labour are at over 40% overall and LibDems, Others/Indys and local parties hitting the 30-33% mark. The introduction of widespread Reform candidates, and particularly if they win, has widened the gender gap. This varies by local authority, but Reform have less than a fifth (20%) of women standing for them in nine councils. In Doncaster this is 15 per cent and in Leicester 11 per cent. Labour are nearly 50/50 in Cornwall and Doncaster, the Greens hitting that in Doncaster and very close in Nottinghamshire.
“More positively all Mayoral contests have at least one woman candidate and a few have two but this isn’t a great election for gender equality (and this cycle has never been).
“Can Reform position themselves as prioritising local people and representing the anti-establishment even though they are now part of it? Will their representation on the ballot paper increase turnout, or just add to the length of it?
“The addition of Reform is a going to be, and already is, a big national story and a point of media focus. But actually the increasing number of candidates, including them fielding candidates in basically every seat, might mean that we see even lower levels of participation and an even great gender imbalance in our local government after these local elections.”
