Would you vote for an inde. Councillor if she represented women?

[PosieParker]

With decent well thought out policies, but would also be a female voice in what seems to be a male dominated world.

Lying? Political suicide wouldbe to declare I stand for women, best I just do it with politics.....erm you know like politicians do.

Unfortunately that says a lot about your lack of integrity. Or is that the point of this thread?

Okay, the point for me is that I would vote for the candidate who would push for the policies most closely aligned to what I would see as priorities (and for me, policies that tackle injustice in all forms, particularly sexism would be priorities in my book.)

If that candidate were a woman, that would be a bonus, particularly as I believe there is huge benefit in having a cross-section of the community represented amongst elected officials. Also, because women are under-represented in elected bodies, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. You don't see anyone you can identify with in the council chamber? You think that serving as a councillor isn't for you, that you won't fit in, etc., so you don't stand. You just keep getting more and more of the same being elected, and often more and more of the same sorts of policies coming from them.

However, I wouldn't vote for someone because they were a woman if I didn't agree with their policies and I would vote for an opposing candidate if I did agree with their's, even if they were a man. It's a fairly common tactic in the US at least for parties to put forward a candidate whom they think will appeal to a certain section of the electorate, even if the party's policies are pretty far out (remember Sarah Palin anyone?)

The trouble for me is that if you claimed to "represent women" then I would think that you thought that women all wanted the same thing, Which is not true. There are very likely some hot topics in your local area where one position benefits some women and the opposite position benefits some other women.

So I'd think you were not very open-minded or very thoughtful about what you actually meant when you spoke out about your policies, which doesn't sound like a good thing in a councillor.

ElephantsAreMadeOfElements wrote - "any elected representative is elected to represent everyone in their ward/constituency, whether they voted for them or not and whether they have anything in common or not."

That's the theory but how often does that actually happen in practice?

I think it does not happen often, due to the imposition of party discipline by political whips, who put party interests before any consideration of what constituents may want.

Posie, would you be willing to share some of your policies on here?

I'm sure there are things where benefits to one group involve impositions on someone else. And ultimately anything that costs 10p takes that money away from other use, but I could imagine a feminist councillor doing things like:

Making sure that an anti-bullying programme in a school addresses sexual harassment of girls.

Supporting volunteers running a domestic violence shelter (if not actually making it a council project).

Ensuring that police and medical staff offer appropriate treatment to rape victims.

Looking at recreational/sport opportunities, with an eye on whether everyone has the best chance to find something that suits them.

There's undoubtedly lots more, and in general I don't think it would involve robbing anyone to pay anyone else.

I don't believe elected reps should represent all the people. If a Communist is elected, she's not there to represent capitalists. If a feminist, she shouldn't represent misogynists; etc

She's not there to represent misogynists if they want a law passed requiring women to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. She is there to represent misogynists if their neighbours are trying to erect a building without the necessary planning permission or their child is being bullied at school and the school is trying to brush it under the carpet or (etc., etc., etc.)

Yes. Women are a political interest group, whose interests receive generally very little attention.

Male candidates represent male interests, they just don't generally spell it out, it's just taken as the natural order of things.

Women are a demographic and some policies are damaging to women moreso than men, so less budget for domestic violence services for example is anti women, losing legal aid is more damaging to women. Sex work, SEV licences, policing are all things that really do need a feminist eye....

My idea is embryonic, I live in a city with a tiny number of women on a huge council, I would like to be a female voice speaking as a feminist, I think there is a need. Obviously declaring my feminist viewpoint as part of my appeal is unlikely to win votes, not getting votes would not really help achieve my goal of changing local politics.

I would vote for you with the sorts of policies you have mentioned so far. The thing to do is say "I support XYZ" which just happen to be pro-women, I agree it's not a good idea to try and get elected on the basis of being a feminist!

Is this in a local election? Or general?

City council? I would want to know what you would do about things you could influence as a local councillor.

Local to start with..... Seriously in the first moments of this idea. I had a taste in the local chamber the other day and gave my first speech!

No, I would not vote for a councillor to represent women only.

Sounds good to me.

Best of luck!

Elephants I meant in the sense of representing the interests of (eg) misogynists as misogynists (eg cutting childcare or refuges, licensing strip clubs)
Planning permission would be purely coincidental if they were misogynists