28. Viscountess ASTORasked the Attorney-General whether he can give an assurance that the opposition of a Lord-Lieutenant would not be a bar to the appointment of women magistrates in any area?
§ The SOLICITOR-GENERAL (Sir Donald Somervell)The Lord Chancellor has never known a case where a Lord-Lieutenant has opposed an appointment solely on the ground that the person proposed was a woman. If such a case occurred, my Noble Friend would regard such opposition as an insufficient reason for withholding the appointment.
Viscountess ASTORDoes the hon. Gentleman realise that in counties where there are backward-looking Lords-Lieutenant there are few women magistrates, whereas in counties like Devonshire, where there is a forward-looking Lord-Lieutenant, there are many women magistrates?