THE number of women on Inverclyde Council has more than doubled with seven councillors elected in Thursday's poll.

Sandra Reynolds, Kirsty Law and Pam Armstrong of the SNP and Labour's Francesca Brennan are the area's newly elected female councillors.

They join Labour's Natasha McGuire, independent Lynne Quinn and the SNP's Elizabeth Robertson, who were elected in 2017.

Cllr Quinn, who was made the area's first ever female champion in 2019, said: "I'm hoping that those new female councillors that are coming in see the other women and say 'we belong here'.

"That was the issue for me last term, there were only the three of us and at some committees I was the only female there.

"Our council should be representative of the community it serves.

"It's great news that we've made this step, we don't have a balance yet, but it's another step forward."

Councillor McGuire echoed her colleague's sentiments and told the Tele that she was excited at the prospect of working with her fellow female councillors.

She said: "To have seven elected shows that more women are feeling empowered to come forward and stand.

"Hopefully as years go on we'll see more females being elected.

"I'm excited to see what they bring forward and see where Inverclyde will be over the next five years."

Councillor Robertson, whose party fielded the most female candidates, said she was pleased to see the council becoming more balanced.

She said: "I have to emphasise that we fielded the most female candidates due to natural causes.

"There was no measure or device, that just happened to be who stood.

"We've got a team of eight - four men and four women - and I couldn't be more delighted with the fact that it's gender-balanced."