District chief executives believe many of the upper-tier authorities are prejudiced against them when it comes to applying for leadership positions. Head-hunter Andy Ball recently persuaded three women district chiefs to give their views on their career prospects in an off-the-record interview.

Here, he gives the conclusions Experience, it seems, led the three district council chief executives who were the subject of this article, to believe there are barriers to them moving into leadership positions in unitaries, metropolitan boroughs or county councils. Despite a good personal fit with the job description, they had been unsuccessful in their applications, yet had little concrete evidence of why this was so. All three individuals have impressive local government careers.