ENGLAND — Women account for about a third of candidates standing across the United Kingdom's local, mayoral and devolved elections on 7 May, according to an analysis published by 50:50 Parliament and Democracy Club. The review found that almost twice as many men as women are on the ballot, and that no party is fielding an equal number of male and female candidates.

Across all the contests, two-thirds of candidates are men. In local elections in England, 34% of candidates are women, compared with 38% in the Senedd elections and 36% in the Scottish parliament elections. In the six mayoral elections, 18% of candidates are women.

The analysis drew on candidate data gathered by Democracy Club, with genders assigned based on first name where a candidate had not specified their gender. Of 26,813 candidates examined, 17,687 had male names, 9,028 had female names, and 98 could not be assigned a gender.

Among parties contesting the English local elections, 42% of Labour candidates, 41% of Green Party candidates, 33% of Liberal Democrat candidates and 23% of Reform UK candidates are women. In the six mayoral contests, Labour has fielded three women candidates, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party two each, the Conservative Party one, and Reform UK none.

In Wales, 50% of Labour candidates, 46% of Green Party candidates, 45% of Plaid Cymru candidates, 36% of Conservative candidates, 28% of Reform UK candidates and 28% of Liberal Democrat candidates are women. Independent candidates in Wales are 17% female. In the Scottish parliamentary election, 60% of Scottish Green Party candidates are women, alongside 50% of Labour, 45% of SNP, 37% of Liberal Democrat, 29% of Conservative and 26% of Reform UK candidates. Independents in Scotland are 28% female.

Only one of the 20 most common first names among candidates in the local elections is female. There are 516 candidates named David, 453 named John and 385 named Paul, while 137 are named Sarah. Last year, when the total number of candidates was lower, the most common woman's name ranked 12th on the list.

"Women are massively underrepresented on our ballot papers. The fact that only one woman's name scrapes in at number 20 just shows how male-dominated local politics is," said Lyanne Nicholl, CEO of 50:50 Parliament. She added: "Men continue to dominate both locally and nationally, and without proper representation women's views and perspectives will once again be sidelined. This isn't about political point scoring, this is about women's representation and how that has benefits for everyone."

Penny East, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said: "We are 51% of the population, and our needs and experiences are not going to be represented by an endless supply of Davids and Johns." East also said: "We have to change the way that we do politics and democracy and make sure that platforms take women's safety more seriously."

Over the last five years, women have made up about one-third of candidates on the ballot paper in local elections. A record number of female MPs were elected in the 2024 general election, and women now make up 41% of MPs.