Women and the politics of Glasgow's City Chambers

For this year's International Women's Day I did research in to the women associated with the City Chambers in Glasgow. Various facts highlight that there is a lack of recognition of women's contribution to public life of Glasgow.

As you may be aware, the Freedom of the City is the greatest tribute of respect that is in the power of the local authority to offer any person and is conferred by the Lord Provost of Glasgow. Women who have been give this tribute are:

• Aung San Suu Kyi, Leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma
  
• Madame Marie Curie, Director of Science, Professor of Physics at the Faculty of Science, Paris; Member of the Academy of Medicine; Director of the Curie Laboratory at the Institute of Radium in the University of Paris; Licenciate of the Science of Mathematics; Doctor of Laws
  
• Mrs Anne Maxwell Macdonald on 24.4.69 as 11^th holder of the Maxwell Macdonald Baronetcy, of Pollok. She and her family gifted Pollok House and 360 acres of Pollok Estate to the City of Glasgow in 1967.

So far, there have been four female Lord Provosts as follows;

• Dame Jean Roberts 1960 – 1963
• Susan Baird 1988-92
• Liz Cameron 2003-2007
• Sadie Docherty – since 2012

In the last year, support has been given for a statue in honour of Glasgow's first female councillor, Mary Barbour. She is recognised as a leading organiser of the 1915 Govan rent strikes.

It should be noted that Glasgow has only three other statues commemorating women. These statues are of Queen Victoria in George Square, Lady Isabella Elder in Govan and La Passionaria on the Clydeside Walkway.

Based on this information, there should be a commitment to increase the number of women given Freedom of the City and ensure that there are additional statues erected to remember other significant women from the arts, business, science, sports and civic life who have made a difference to the City over the last 100 years.

There is a continued under-representation of women in Glasgow politics and decision making positions. At the local elections in May 2012, 22 women were elected as councillors, only 28% of the total.

I am hoping that this year's events in Glasgow to celebrate International Women's Day will encourage more women to get involved in local activism and engage in party politics. We need to ensure that the next local elections in May 2017 provide women with a stronger platform and there are gender balancing selection policies for candidates adopted by all political parties. Women should represent at least 40% of the 79 councillors.