It is a shame that, just days after Bradford elected women to the posts of both Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor for the first time, that a row has blown up about the lack of female representation at the Council’s highest levels.

The fact that no females have been given places on the Council’s seven-strong executive is one that does warrant discussion, particularly as almost a third of councillors are women.

And it is not unreasonable for Lib Dem leader Jeanette Sunderland to raise the question with the ruling Labour group.

But the last thing we want to see is governance by quota at City Hall, whether it be in relation to gender, race, religion or age.

If it is the case that the executive members have been chosen on merit, should they really have to move aside to ensure both sexes get fair representation?

And if we accepted they should, would we not also have to have the correct proportion of men to women on the Council as a whole? Or young people and old people? Or Muslims, Hindus, Protestants, Catholics and so on?

There is no doubt that women have to work harder and be stronger than their male counterparts to achieve similar success.

Sexism in the workplace remains a big stumbling block and the difficulty of raising a family and having a successful career continues to help preserve the glass ceiling.

But that problem will not be solved by the introduction of artificial quotas. It is one that society as a whole must continue to address by improving attitudes and with practical support like better childcare in the workplace.

If we really want a fair society with genuine equality, we have to accept that merit, capability and suitability for such roles can be the only benchmarks. Unless and until it is proved otherwise, we have to hope that the Labour group has based its appointments solely on such criteria.