During the debate Conservative councillor Jane Pascoe said: “I’m always happy to be called chairman and I think it should remain the same.”
Green Party councillor Drew Creek believed a change was important.
He said: “I think we should move away from what is essentially a gender term and make it much more neutral and inclusive, and remove the masculine default of the word ‘chairman’.”
Fellow Green Party councillor Karen La Borde said: “One of the things Cornwall Council should be doing is leading its community and, as we all know, female representation in politics is much lower than male representation.
“If we want to send the right message to females we have to remove gendered language.”
