CHAIRMAN and lady speakers will all become a thing of the past in Corsham from now on, as town councillors voted to back banishing gendered titles from its meetings.

From agendas to meetings and letters to name tags, all councillors and now council staff will be referred to without referring to any specific genders.

In a tradition labelled “archaic”, town council administration will no longer refer to female councillors as Ms, Miss or Mrs and instead, like the men around the table, be referred to as councillor.

Cllr Ruth Hopkinson said: “In correspondence we are always referred to as Ms, and men are just Councillors. We are all councillors, regardless of our gender and it is about time we moved into the 21st Century. If people want to know what gender we are they will have to talk to us.”The council was in unanimous agreement and Cllr Neville Farmer said: “I’m surprised we aren’t already doing this.” All task group leaders will no longer be named chairman, except the chairman of the town Council, which is a legal term and will remain in place.

The change was made during last night’s full town council meeting held in Corsham Town Hall.