'Northern powerhouse' event labelled 'embarrassing' over lack of women

A conference purporting to celebrate the best and brightest businesspeople and executives in the north of England has been criticised after all 15 main advertised speakers were men.

The two-day Northern Powerhouse conference in Manchester next week charges delegates £450 (plus VAT) to “network with the key players, potential business partners and stakeholders in the Northern Powerhouse economy.”

Yet if the roster of speakers is anything to go by, almost all of those considered by the organisers to be “key players” in the north are male. Just 13 of the 98 listed speakers in the conference programme are female, with several panel sessions featuring no women at all.

“Good god, how embarrassing is this,” tweeted Andy Burnham, the Labour MP running to become the first elected mayor of Greater Manchester, after seeing the conference press release.

Donna Hall, chief executive of Wigan Council, told the Guardian it was “unbelievable” and said she had not been invited to take part. “Really disappointing that the organisers have scrubbed women off the agenda. In GM we are focussing on health and social care, skills, early years and issues of massive importance to women. Holding back women holds back everyone and the whole of the north. Wake up and get with it guys!” she said. Last year she was named the north of England’s most transformational leader at the inaugural Northern Power Women awards, set up to celebrate the region’s talented women.

As criticism of the organisers mounted, one of those listed in the press release, Graham Robb, chair of the North East Institute of Directors (IOD), tweeted that he had “insisted” on sharing his speaking slot with Natalie Sykes, IOD regional director for Yorkshire.

Julie Elliott, MP for Sunderland Central, said the male-heavy lineup was “staggering”. Julie Ward, an MEP for the north-west of England, tweeted: “This is appalling & even worse that the organisers don’t understand Y #women must be involved at every level. True #equality = everyone wins.”

Female speakers not deemed worthy of inclusion in the press release include Judith Blake, leader of Leeds city council, and Anne Longfield, children’s commissioner for England, who is speaking about a project she is running on growing up in the north.

Chaired by the Radio 4 presenter John Humphrys, keynote speeches are being delivered by Andrew Percy, minister for the northern powerhouse, and Lord Kerslake, chair of the UK Northern Powerhouse advisory board.

Contacted by the Guardian, the conference organisers conceded that women were “under-represented” but said that companies usually chose for themselves which speakers to field.

A spokesman said: “We’re delighted to have a range of high-profile women involved in this year’s event, including Pat Ritchie, Newcastle city council’s first female chief executive, Kirsty Styles, head of talent and skills at Tech North, and Anne Longfield, children’s commissioner for England.

“In the majority of cases, our speakers have been selected by their firms to represent them in order to provide expert comment on the challenges of developing the northern powerhouse.

“But we entirely accept that women have been left under-represented as the programme has come together. We have already started a dialogue with our commercial partners, advisory board members and sponsors to address the issue for next year’s event.”

One of the few female speakers at the conference, Kirsty Styles, just launched a media and public speaker training programme for women with Tech North.

She said: “The ‘northern powerhouse’ is still being shaped — but what we do know is that it seeks to rebalance the UK economy by ensuring the north works together and speaks with one voice — which cannot be done if local women and other groups are excluded from high-level conversations.

“If we keep sourcing our speakers and our local leaders from the same places, we’ll keep hearing the same old ideas and coming up with the same solutions.”

Research by the Fawcett Society last year found that while 40% of councillors in the northern powerhouse are female, women make up just 28% of senior leadership roles.