Women in local government often face ‘sexist, offensive and derogatory remarks' putting them off entering local politics, according to new research.

The Sexism and Local Government report, published by the Fawcett Society, reveals that only one in ten council leaders and a third of councilors are female.

Daisy Sands, head of policy and campaigns at the Fawcett Society, said: ‘We have found numerous examples, across the country and from a range of parties, of male councillors making sexist, offensive and derogatory remarks about both women generally and their female colleagues.

‘These incidents should be considered in light of the male dominance of local government. More than two thirds of local elected representatives are men, and the higher up the tree you go the fewer women there are – almost 90% of council leaders are men. In fact, over the past ten years the number of women running town halls has actually decreased.

‘It seems clear that sexism of the kind we found is putting women off local politics. This is bad for our democracy, and means very important decisions are being made with few women around the table.'

The Fawcett Society is calling on all political parties to urgently tackle sexism and ensure a ‘robust and independent' complaints board is in place.