The Big Interview: Heather Woodbridge

In the latest edition of The Peedie Orcadian, Lucie Lee and Ella Barclay from S2 at Stromness Academy question Heather Woodbridge, leader of Orkney Islands Council.

What challenges, if any, have you faced in your job due to being young and female?

The media makes people assume that it can be a difficult role for a young woman, so I understand where the question is coming from, but I feel that it is an incredibly positive experience, and that mostly everyone is supportive towards me.

I was never made to feel that my voice was less important than any of my male colleagues; I was never made to feel inadequate or inferior to my male colleagues, which made the environment feel much more welcoming when I first started.

I was the youngest ever Orkney Islands councillor when I was first elected — but I wasn’t that young: I was 26 when I was first elected.

I have to say, my personal experience of becoming a councillor was really positive as being young and female.

However, I have had challenges and you come across individuals who perhaps aren’t so used to having a young female leader and sometimes that is interesting! But I have to say that is not what l’ve experienced and it’s been incredibly positive.

When you were younger, did you think about being involved with the local council, or did you have other ambitions?

When I was your age, I had no plans to be a politician, no plans to become a public figure.

That was never part of what I thought I would do as an adult.

I ended up doing a lot of different things before I became a politician. When I was younger, I had plenty of thoughts about my future – I enjoyed music and studied it at school. After graduating high school, in Kirkwall Grammar School, I went to the University of Stirling where I studied ecology.

With this degree I became involved in the Orkney Native Wildlife Project and worked in conservation. But I suppose the thing I’ve always known is that I’ve always really cared about my community, about the North Isles, in particular.

That’s my home and l’ve always felt very protective and passionate about supporting those communities.

How do you feel about standing in place of your father’s role?

It was an emotional decision, but I was very lucky that me and my father were very close.

We were really good friends and we had the conversation when we knew he wasn’t going to be able to see out the rest of his term, and he said: “I think you would really enjoy this.” And I’ve no regrets.

I think it was the best thing I could have done.

I was so pleased to finish his term for him. When we had a conversation about it, he said that l would be the right person to continue his role.

I said that in the upcoming election I would stand for him, and so when the time came, I did what I had promised and got elected. I feel very proud to be doing this for my dad.

How do you feel about being Orkney’s first female council leader, and Scotland’s youngest?

I think for me it feels totally normal. It’s like ‘of course I’m doing this’. I am pleased that it has happened and that next time it won’t be the ‘first female council leader’, it’ll be normal.

I think that it’s important to see someone that looks like you in this position. To see a female chief executive, for example, or to see a female political leader and say, “Oh, that person looks a bit like me. I could do that, too.”

Do you enjoy your post as North Ronaldsay’s grave digger?

Yes, I do enjoy it. However I think about it as more of a role than a job. I think it reflects my attitude towards life – if something needs to be done and I’m able to do it, I believe it is important for me to just do it for the people around me.

I decided I would take the grave digging training a couple of years back and I am still incredibly glad that I did it.

It was a wonderful experience, and I learned so much during that course. There was a lot of engineering involved, and a lot of health and safety, and very fortunately I have not had to put those skills to the test yet.

Do you think your time in Norway had an impact on what you wanted to do in Orkney?

My time in Norway definitely impacted my experience in Orkney. I was very shy at school and didn’t like being the centre of attention but after my experience abroad I felt much more confident in my work.

It was fascinating spending time in a different country and observing its culture. It really had a huge impact on me and my confidence. It gave me a lot of independence and helped me to understand the connection between Orkney and Norway.

What are some things you have been doing in Orkney so far to improve fairness?

I think probably the biggest fairness issue is access, and I was able to get the funding for the first three vessels that will be replaced in the North Isles.

We haven’t seen any new ferries yet because they take some time to build, but we are replacing the North Isles ferries, and we are working very hard to get the funding for all the isles ferries because we are aware that for folk in those isles communities having that lifeline connection is very important.

It’s expensive to live in the Orkney Mainland but so much more expensive to live in the outer isles. The ferries are critical for access to healthcare, education and jobs.

And when people have better access they have access to building wider social connections too.

One of the first things I did when I was elected was put in an amendment or a motion to give 50 per cent off ferry fares to the under-22s. We managed to convince the Scottish Government that actually, our ferries are our buses as well.

In what way do you see Orkney moving forward?

I think Orkney’s got a lot to look forward to.

A lot of opportunities, but of course a lot of challenges too. I think the people of Orkney are a huge strength. We’ve got an incredibly creative, intelligent and energetic population, and I think we have so much going for us here.

Some of the big challenges for us here would be economic – especially with the cost-of-living crisis, with the cost of electricity.

I think we also have a challenge when it comes to demographics.

In Orkney, we have older people retiring and we don’t quite have the numbers to replace them in work. And then we’ve got a lot of jobs that are vacant, in social care, for example and there aren’t enough people to do those jobs that the older retired population maybe need.

I think that’s going to be a huge challenge for me, for you guys, for the future. How do we keep the economy vibrant when we’re also looking after an older generation?

We know Orkney has some very strong opinions about the council. How does this affect you?

This is interesting, because when you asked me about impact on me as a young woman, I was able to say it didn’t really affect me, that people had been supportive.

I feel this is a very egalitarian society, but when it comes to people’s opinions about the council it can be very hard being an elected member sometimes.

People can be very, very cruel on social media, and they can be cruel about you personally but also about your colleagues.

They can be cruel about the people you know, the people that do their very best every day like your teachers at school. It’s very hard to see the people you know are working so hard getting such nasty messages.

I think we should all do better to be kinder to each other because there’s not a single person who works for the council who’s in there to do a bad job. But I still think my job is worthwhile, even though it’s sometimes a little bit hard to read the paper.

Will your pregnancy affect your work in any way? Will you be taking time off?

I think that’s a very meaningful question and a question many professional women find themselves trying to answer. I am absolutely going to stay in my job and continue with what I’m doing.

I will of course have maternity leave, because I think that’s important. I think both parents should take some time off to get to know their new child.

But I’ll be back and I’ll be continuing in my role and I certainly will be standing for election again next year.

What advice would you give to the younger generation of Orkney interested in leadership roles such as being part of the council?

Just go for it. You will have so much more support than you expect. And you don’t necessarily have to stand for election. There are so many other kinds of leadership roles that young people might be interested in.