Over the weekend the Welsh government’s councillors’ commission reported on ways to improve representation for women and people from ethnic minorities in local councils.
Among the suggestions was the recommendation that political parties should be allowed to (positively) discriminate on grounds of ethnicity to try to ensure that the number of councillors elected better reflects the make-up of the population – along the same lines as already happens for women in some political parties.
The last time the Welsh Government tried to shake up the old boys’ club, it came up with the ‘golden goodbye’ scheme in an attempt to stop council chambers looking like the exclusive reserve of retired white men. Funny then, that six or seven years down the line, we are still looking at ways of making town halls more representative.
If the Welsh Government adopts the policies recommended by this report, will this be a final admission that the golden goodbye initiative was a silly gimmick, and that it did little bar give a handful of councillors an even larger handful of cash with which to enjoy their post-council days?
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