Exploring the working life of a female politician

This explorative paper is based on the professional career of Councillor Gill Sargeant who completed her term of office as Mayor of the London Borough of Barnet, in May 2001. This paper chronicles the life of a twenty‐first century woman living and working in a “digitally” lead age, faced with the challenges of a traditional business environment. The paper also identifies the impact of key “drivers” and “barriers” to the development of women's careers such as, childcare responsibilities, technology, gender stereotypes and family friendly policies, as faced by a modern day Mayor.