Date:

29/04/09

CLLR MAYA DE SOUZA AND BARONESS UDDIN HOST EVENT IN CAMDEN

 The country’s first national BAME Women Councillor Shadowing Scheme was launched exclusively at Camden Town Hall on Friday 24th April 2009 by Operation Black Vote (OBV) and the Government Equalities Office.

Cllr Maya de Souza, local councillor for Camden, was joined by Cllr Keith Moffitt, Leader of Camden Council, Baroness Uddin, Chair of the BAME Women Councillors Taskforce, Frank Dobson, MP and Simon Woolley, Director of OBV. The event aimed to bring Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) women into local government.

The scheme is designed to demystify the role of councillors and open up the process to allow greater diversity and to help tackle the under-representation of BAME women within the UK’s elected Council Chambers. The Councillors Commission found that one of the main barriers to a wider range of people being councillors was the lack of awareness of the councillor role and how to get involved.

The participants will shadow mentor councillors for 4-6 days over a six-month period and learn about the roles and responsibilities of a councillor. The experience will equip and motivate them to become actively involved in local politics. It aims to give them greater confidence to stand as candidates and represent their community as councillors in the decision making process. And in turn, the scheme will also give serving councillors the opportunity to work closer with BAME communities.

Over a hundred women attended the talks and workshops to find out how to get more involved with their local councils and put themselves forward for election when the opportunity presents itself. The morning kicked off with an introduction by Baroness Uddin, Chair of the BAME Women Councillors Taskforce. The Taskforce was set up to address the under-representation of BAME women as local councillors.

Camden Council has been highly successful in recruiting BAME women into the council. With four female ethnic councillors out of a total of 53, Camden council closely mirrors the BAME female population in the borough as a whole.

Nationally, BAME women are not faring so well. While they make up five per cent of the population as a whole, they comprise less than one per cent of all elected councillors.

The Taskforce is taking forward a series of events across Britain designed to provide delegates with an opportunity to meet women who have already decided to participate in public life. At the events they find out more how they too can become part of the decision-making process in their local communities.

The event in Camden was an overwhelming success where delegates learnt about the important and rewarding role that councillors play in the local community. There were speeches by Frank Dobson, MP, Cllr Keith Moffitt, Leader of Camden Council, Simon Woolley, Operation Black Vote Merlene Emerson, Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Hammersmith, Dame Jane Roberts, Chair of the Councillors Commission and workshops by Cllr Maya de Souza and Cllr Geethika Jayatilaka, local councillors for Camden.

Cllr Maya de Souza has been a councillor on Camden Council for three years. She has a keen interest in social and environmental issues and has championed proposals on sustainability for the area of Camden. She works full time as a senior manager in the civil service.

Cllr Maya de Souza said:

"This is an exciting time for the women of Camden and beyond. The launch of the shadowing scheme and an event like this will create avenues for women of all backgrounds to come forward and take their position in local politics."

Facilitators, Cllr Maya de Souza and Geethika Jayatilaka led two interactive workshops that covered ‘Key skills needed to become an effective councillor’ and ‘How to be an effective champion in your community’. Delegates had the opportunity to contribute to discussions and engage with the Facilitators.

Cllr Keith Moffitt said:

"Camden prides itself on having a number of black, Asian and minority ethnic female councillors and in fact they very accurately represent the make up of our borough. By being represented in the council chamber, every member of our society is given a voice and a say in how Camden is run. I am delighted that Camden is leading the way in this respect and I would like to encourage other women of all cultural backgrounds to get involved and make a difference."

Frank Dobson said:

"No democracy can function fairly and effectively unless the elected representatives broadly reflect the population. So, I’m glad that the Labour Party has led the way in increasing the number of women and black, Asian and minority ethnic MPs and councillors. It has not been easy or popular with some people but we have stuck at it. There is still so much to do. The other parties have made a start but that still have a long way to go."

Baroness Uddin said:

"Through the work of the Taskforce we have already reached around 600 women. We have organised ten events across the country to date and have been overwhelmed by the level of enthusiasm we have seen. We are pleased to be working with Operation Black Vote to help change the face of politics. There is a huge talent pool out there and the mentoring scheme will play a key role in our efforts in encouraging women from our communities to come forward and claim their place."

- Ends-

Notes for editors

Photo shows, left to right: Cllr Nasim Ali , Frank Dobson MP, Cllr Geethika Jayatilaka, Cllr Maya de Souza, Cllr Keith Moffitt Leader of Camden Council.

* List of participating areas:

Applications are invited from BAME women in the following areas:

* Birmingham, Chilterns, Gloucester, Leicester, Liverpool, London (see below), Maidenhead, Scotland, Swansea, Newcastle, Wales, York and Humberside

* London: Camden, Harrow, Islington, Lambeth, Tower Hamlets

* Operation Black Vote is a non-party political campaign. The term "Black" is a political term. It refers to African, Asian, Caribbean and other ethnic minorities. For more information about OBV visit

* The Operation Black Vote Shadowing Scheme is the first to specifically target ethnic minorities. The Shadows commit at least six working days to the project over the next six months. This is a voluntary programme and participants do not receive any remuneration, bar basic expenses.

* The Councillor Shadowing Scheme was first implemented in 2005/6 in Bristol and was awarded the Local Government Chronicle Award in 2006 for ‘Supporting Local Democracy’ and was highly commended for the ‘Community Involvement’ category. The LGC Awards are a national award which recognizes and rewards initiatives of excellence (

The BAME Women Councillors Taskforce was launched in May 2008 by Harriet Harman, Minister for Women and Equality

* The Taskforce takes practical action to address under-representation, by:

Holding outreach events in communities to make the role of councillors more widely known and better understood

Providing mentoring to women interested in becoming a councillor

Working in partnership with organisations such as the Local Government Association, Operation Black Vote and the Fawcett Society to develop awareness training and to encourage more women to step forward for roles in public life

Establishing networking groups

Supporting building stronger data on BAME women councillors nationally

Working with local councils, political parties and organisations like IDeA to improve the recruitment, training and selection and support given to candidates

* A number of similar events will take place across the country. Further information and dates can be found at

* On 12th November, MPs agreed to establish a Speaker’s Conference which will consider the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons. For more information about the Speaker’s Conference please visit:

* Members of the BAME Women Councillor’s Taskforce include:

Cllr Lurline Champagnie: London: Harrow, Cons

>Cllr Maya de Souza: London: Camden, Green

Cllr Meral Ece OBE: London: Islington, Lib Dem

Cllr Anwara Ali: London: Tower Hamlets, Lab

Cllr Humaira Javed: S/East: Windsor and Maidenhead, Lib Dem

Carol Francis JP: Former Cllr South West: Gloucester, Lab

Cllr Mimi Harker: S/East: Chiltern District, Cons

Cllr Manjula Sood: East Midlands: Leicester City, Lab

Cllr Salma Yaqoob: W/Midlands: Sparkbrook, Birmingham City, Respect

Cllr Svetlana Rodgers: Yorkshire & Humberside, Lib Dem

Cllr Mia Jones: North West: Chester City, Lib Dem

Thea Khamis: Former Cllr North East: Derwentside

Yvonne Jardine: Former Cllr Wales: Swansea, Lab

Neelam Bakshi: Former Cllr Scotland

Cllr Lorna Campbell: London: Lambeth, Lab

Cllr Sherma Batson MBE: East of England: Stevenage, Lab

www.parliament.uk/about/how/principal/speaker/speakers_conference.cfmwww.obv.org.uk
www.lgcawards.com). The Councillor Shadowing Scheme has been cited as a leading model to be used by both the Councillors Commission and the Audit Commission. www.equalities.gov.uk

Last updated: 5 May 2009