New Monmouthshire councillor says Conservatives gender balance in Wales gained by 'merit'

Cllr Rachel Buckler's win made Monmouthshire Wales' first majority female council.

The newly-elected councillor at Wales’ first female majority council says gender balance in the Tory party is gained by “merit”.

Cllr Rachel Buckler, who won a Monmouthshire Council by-election seat as Liz Truss gave her resignation as prime minister, called the win “historic”.

She told ITV’s Sharp End: “What's important to know is that with the Conservatives it's done naturally and it's done by merit. So it's choosing good candidates to be selected and it's not based on their gender.

“Whereas Labour do a selection process where they put all-women shortlists. We haven't done it, because we want to have the right people in the jobs, not just based on their gender.”

  • Does the Tory stronghold of Monmouthshire want a general election? Sharp End presenter Rob Osborne found out

The Conservative councillor won the Devauden seat by focusing on local issues, with a campaign fought against the backdrop of her party’s popularity plummeting in the polls after the mini-budget.

“It did seem that it was going to be very, very difficult, especially as the polls were saying that Labour were so ahead”, she said. “So I think it's really rather remarkable that we held on to (the seat) and that people are thinking independently and not just as a knee jerk reaction to the turmoil.”

Monmouthshire was the Conservative's only fully controlled council until the 2022 local elections. The death of Cllr Bob Greenland earlier this year triggered a by-election for the Devauden seat. Had Labour won this seat, they would have gained overall control of the council.

Monmouthshire County Council leader, Cllr Mary Ann Brocklesby, said: “Obviously, I am disappointed we did not win.

“I am very proud of the way that Labour has championed gender equality here in Wales with policies and actions that make a difference. Labour has put women at the forefront in local politics to carry these actions through. I look forward to working constructively with Rachel.”

With new PM Rishi Sunak vowing to fix the “mistakes” of Liz Truss’s leadership - what should be done to unify the party?

Cllr Buckler said: “The country needs us to gather together. We've got too many things that we need to deal with, and knocking on the doorstep, and going down all those farm tracks, which I did a lot, people are worried about how they're going to survive the winter.

“We need to stop the infighting and get behind a new leader.”

  • You can catch up on the latest episode of Sharp End here. The show airs on Monday nights, 10.45pm, on ITV Cymru Wales.