Democracy is being weakened and public faith in politics undermined as the number of women in senior roles continues to fall, according to a report.

A study from the Counting Women In coalition finds only 12.3% of council leaders in England and 32% of councilors are women while almost 90% of Police and Crime Commissions are men. In the Sex and Power report, political parties are told they must field as many women candidates as possible in winnable seats in 2015 from as wide a variety of backgrounds as possible to tackle this discrepancy.