Only one in five council chief execs are women

Just one in five local authority chief executives are women, compared to 38 per cent of NHS bosses and 46 per cent of charity heads, research out today shows.

But the Equal Opportunities Commission study found that the proportion of female council chief executives had risen from just 13 per cent in 2003.

The study examined the representation of women in the senior ranks of the public sector, business, politics and the media.