Oxford Town Hall increases number of portraits of women

Photographs of MPs Anneliese Dodds and Layla Moran have been installed in the council chamber

Eight new portraits have gone on display at a historic public building to increase the number of pictures of women on show.

Oxford Town Hall previously had 45 paintings on display, but only five featured women.

The new photographs have been installed in the council chamber of the Grade II* listed building, and they include local MPs Anneliese Dodds and Layla Moran.

There are no plans to remove any existing paintings on display.

Summertown councillor Katherine Miles, a researcher behind the project, said women had "always played an important role in the social fabric of Oxford", but had not always received public recognition.

She added: "We now have more women on the walls of the council chamber - the heart of local democracy - to celebrate and inspire women's participation and leadership in political and public life."

The new pictures are of:

• Mary Sophia Merivale (1853-1928), the first woman councillor in Oxford, elected in 1907

• Lily Tawney OBE (1867-1947), the first woman Lord Mayor of Oxford in 1933

• Olive Gibbs (1918-1995), the second woman to hold the post of Lord Mayor of Oxford, and the first woman to chair Oxfordshire County Council

• Icolyn "Ma" Smith MBE (1930-2022), founder of the Oxford Community Soup Kitchen

• Baroness Frances O'Grady, the first woman General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress

• Anneliese Dodds, MP for Oxford East

• Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon

• Lubna Arshad, the Lord Mayor of Oxford and the first woman of colour to hold the post

Icolyn "Ma" Smith was the founder of the Oxford Community Soup Kitchen

Council leader Susan Brown said: "The city council's focus is absolutely on tackling the cost-of-living, housing and climate crises - and that is what our new budget focuses on.

"We have, however, been working on a cross-party basis on this small project to explain and add to the art and portraiture in Oxford's main civic building at minimal cost."

A new photograph of all councillors will also be displayed in the Town Hall.

The council said the idea was to show how the present day authority was "much more reflective of the local population in terms of gender and ethnicity".

The printing and installation of the black-and-white photographs cost £200.

Baroness Frances O'Grady was the first woman General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress

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