It is now almost five years since Dame Jane Roberts and the councillors' commission released their report on how to rid the sector of its ‘pale, male and stale' image.

In a damning indictment of the sector's councillors, the report found that 71% of elected members were men, and they were older and whiter than the population as a whole. That may have changed since the study was published in December 2007 – but not enough. Dame Jane, a former leader of Camden LBC, said there was ‘no magic bullet' that would solve the associated problems. The commission issued a raft of proposals – which were promptly ignored by the Government of the time.