Harriet Harman, the mininster for women and equality, is spearheading a campaign to make public bodies more diverse, as research is published showing that such bodies are comprised mainly of white men.
A summary of the Ipsos MORI research, carried out for the Government Equalities Office and the Cabinet Office, shows that nine out of ten people in the survey have never considered applying for a national public appointment.
Last June, the government set targets to increase diversity on public bodies. By 2011, women must form 50% of new public appointees - up from 33% in March 2008. The number of disabled people is to rise from 5% to 14%, while the number of people from ethnic minorities, now just 5.7%, is due to rise to 11%.
Several programmes have been launched to support the campaign, including a network for public appointments ambassadors and two mentoring programmes.
Harman said public bodies take decisions that affect everyone's lives, but are not representative of society.
