EARLIER this month, the former leader of Nottingham City Council Betty Higgins died aged 92. I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Betty, but know of her reputation both as an amazing council leader who famously managed to keep Nottingham City transport in public ownership and was a champion of women’s rights and activism who worked tirelessly to increase women’s representation in public life.

Women make up nearly 80 per cent of the local government workforce and women are more likely to depend on the services that councils provide. It goes without saying that women have been disproportionately affected by Tory austerity and cuts to local government services.

Since 2010 we’ve seen hundreds of children’s centres close. One million street lights have been switched off or dimmed. There have been massive cuts to bus services, funding for women’s refuges and domestic abuse services have been slashed. The social care crisis affects women not only as care workers, but as carers who often have to do more to support relatives when care packages are cut.