'Endless Davids': Figures show gender inequality of local election candidates

There are more than three times as many local election candidates named David as there are Sarahs, shocking new figures laying bare the level of gender inequality show.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

A breakdown of those standing to become councillors next month reveals the 11 most common names are all male, while just two of the 30 most common names are female.

Overall, just a third of local election candidates are women, a slight drop from the 34 per cent of candidates last year. And there are 20 times more all-male ballots than all-female ones, the figures revealed.

Charity 50:50 Parliament, which campaigns for greater female representation in politics, said it feels like “banging our heads against a brick wall”.