Event to encourage women from ethnic minorities into local politics

Lib Dem Stoneygate Councillor, Hussein Suleman is helping to promote an event which will hopefully help more women from ethnic minorities to get involved in local politics.

The BAME event is aimed at getting more Black, Asian, and minority ethnic women to become councillors, and is especially aiming to help women from currently under-represented groups.

The Lord Mayor will host the event at the Town Hall on Friday on April 17, from 10am, which will also feature Baroness Uddin - the chair of the BAME Women Councillors Taskforce and the UK's first Bengali woman councillor, as well as the first Muslim woman in the House of Lords.

Government figures show women from ethnic minorities account for less than one per cent of England's 20,000 councillors, despite making up around five per cent of the country's population.

Leicester currently has two female city councillors from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Cllr. Suleman said, "I hope this event does encourage women from ethnic minorities to come forward and speak up for their community they live in."

The event is part of the work being done by a cross-party BAME Women Councillors' Taskforce, which is exploring and developing practical ways to encourage more women from ethnic minorities into local politics.