Gender and Local Politics: Connecting the Public and the Private

This thesis is concerned with the experiences of women elected to local government office in England, and is based on qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data is made-up of face-to-face interviews with thirty-five female local councillors from seven local councils in England. Quantitative data took the form of a postal questionnaire which was sent to over 800 male and female councillors, 71 % of whom responded. The two main themes which this thesis explores are barriers to women's full integration into local government, and orientations to political office and to feminism