Councillor Elizabeth Barraclough : Cumbria County Council

I have always been politically aware as my father was a District Auditor and dealt with local councils. While I had a full-time job with responsibility for providing a service 24 hours a day it was not appropriate to consider being a councillor. On retirement all that changed and within 2 years I was elected as a Town Councillor but failed to get on the District Council until there was a by-election 18 months later. The motivation was to help local people. At no time did I consider that being a woman was a hindrance, indeed the opposite.

Who is your female role model and why?

I don't think I recognise a role model, I admired Barbara Castle but she was too distant to provide a role model. Closer to home Jackie Ballard, ex Lib Dem MP, provided a model and instructions on how to be a good councillor.

Why is it important to have women councillors?

Women make up over half the population and clearly need their views heard at all levels of government. It is especially important to have women councillors as women take more responsibility for the upbringing of the next generation. But you need both men and women on a council and both young and old to get a good range of opinions and experience. The real problem is persuading women to stand.

100 years on what are the battles still to be fought?

There are still gender battles to be fought but they get more difficult. The 'old school tie' is still very powerful mainly because most women opt out of working full time for a period to raise their families so even if the women from Roedean and Cheltenham had the same standing as Harrow and Eton the links would not work as well. More important is the club culture, particularly closed societies like the Masons which are not open to women (though no sensible woman would join). Though most professions are open to women the armed forces have yet to have a women at the head, maybe they wouldn't be armies if they were run by women but be more like police forces. Though Margaret Thatcher would disprove this.