SIR - It is exactly 100 years since the Qualification of Women Act extended to rate-paying women the right to be elected to all local councils.
Bradford had to wait until 1918 for its first female councillor. Mrs Annie Arnold was elected unopposed in the Exchange Ward.
In 1919, Mrs J Clayton (Co-op ) won a contested election in Bradford Moor, beating Miss E Vaughn and, in 1921, Mrs K Sykes (Lab) won in South Ward followed by Mrs K Chambers (Soc) in West Ward in 1926. Mrs Chambers was Bradford's first female Lord Mayor.
Fast forward 100 years to 2007. How are women in Bradford doing?
In the 2007 local elections, 34 per cent of the candidates were women and 29 per cent of the winners were women. The Council is now made up of 27 per cent women The progress over the last 100 years has not been exactly spectacular.
My door is always open for women who want to talk about standing for election. I would like to make the next decade the time when women from all communities make up at least half the members of Bradford Council.
Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, (Idle & Thackley) Leader, Lib-Dem Group, City Hall, Bradford
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