The bodies concerned include Arts Council England, English Heritage, The British Museum, Sport England and the National lottery Commission. They have combined budgets, from the public purse, of around £2 billion a year.

Launching the campaign, which will see ads appear in selected titles until the end of the year, Margaret Hodge said: "Too often when I meet the boards of cultural and sporting bodies in our sector, the number of women present is woefully small. We're great at getting more - and different - people through the front door as visitors, but the make up of the Board Room has got to keep up too. Some organisations have an excellent track record in this area and are all the more successful because of it.

"Addressing this issue isn't about political correctness. It isn't about box-ticking. It's about acknowledging that women have long since earned their place at the table and, where they are missing from the mix, it is right to intervene to correct it."

The publicity campaign will see 130,000 leaflets distributed around the country, and made available through public bodies in the sector and other professional associations. It will be supported by targeted PR activity, paid advertising and inserts placed in sector magazines.