{"id":13461,"date":"2021-05-16T11:18:53","date_gmt":"2021-05-16T11:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/?p=13461"},"modified":"2026-04-18T19:34:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T19:34:31","slug":"a-more-representative-holyrood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2021\/05\/a-more-representative-holyrood\/","title":{"rendered":"A more representative Holyrood?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What did the 2021 Scottish Parliament election deliver for women\u2019s representation? Here are three quick takeaways from our research on gender, intersectionality and candidate selection:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Celebrating representative \u2018firsts\u2019<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    45% of the new parliament are women, a record-breaking number (though still short of gender parity). Amongst these headline figures, Kaukab Stewart (SNP, Glasgow Kelvin) and Pam Gosal (Conservative, West of Scotland) became the first women of colour elected to Holyrood. Stewart is also the first Muslim woman MSP. Meanwhile, Labour\u2019s Pam Duncan-Glancy (Glasgow) becomes the first permanent wheelchair user elected to Holyrood; while the parliament\u2019s youngest MSP Emma Roddick (SNP, Highlands and Islands) has borderline personality disorder and PTSD. These \u2018firsts\u2019 should be welcomed, and will bring a wealth of diverse experience to the sixth Scottish Parliament.<\/p>\n

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    1. Quotas work, but they still have not fully caught on. <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      One of the biggest takeaways from these numbers is that strong equality measures like gender quotas work. These record numbers have not been achieved by accident \u2013 they highlight the impact of quotas measures (particularly the use of all-women shortlists by the SNP in key constituency seats where sitting MSPs were retiring). While most of the main parties used equality measures this time around, and the SNP, Greens and Labour achieved close to gender parity or better in their parliamentary representation \u2013 the Scottish Conservatives remain an outlier, lagging well behind the other main parties on the adoption of equality measures and women\u2019s representation, with only 26% women MSPs elected and only one woman candidate topping a regional list.<\/p>\n

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      1. Now is not the time for complacency<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The history of the Scottish Parliament has shown that gains in representation cannot be taken for granted, and that progress has often been uneven. Now is the time to institutionalise commitments to gender equal representation. Scottish parties need to routinely and publicly publish diversity data on candidates (in the absence of UK Government action on Section 106 of the Equality Act). The Scottish Government should follow the evidence and consider introducing legal gender quotas \u2013 which would apply to all parties, and which would require equalities law to be devolved to Holyrood.<\/p>\n

        Now comes the hard work. In the aftermath of an election that was largely framed in terms of independence and the union, now is the time for wider debates and discussions over what recovery from the pandemic might look like, for women of colour, for unpaid carers, for lone parents, for disabled women; and to ensure a modern and inclusive parliamentary culture (including, for example, considering retaining virtual parliamentary proceedings and remote voting). In all of these discussions, it is vitally important that women\u2019s diverse voices are at the decision-making table.<\/p>\n

        Kirstein Rummery<\/strong><\/a> discusses how this Scottish Parliament will be the most gender diverse in its history. A historic 45% of MSPs are now women, making it the 13th most gender equal Parliament in the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

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        However, not all parties faired equally in the gender revolution:<\/p>\n

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        This reflects that fact that the Scottish Greens, Scottish National Party and Scottish Labour have signed up to the Women 50\/50 pledge to get 50% of their elected MSPs to be women, and both the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Liberal Democrats have declined to take pro-active measures to support women. The evidence suggests that the structural barriers to women entering politics are so significant, without proactive measures it would 145 years to achieve gender parity.<\/p>\n

        Barriers to entry<\/h2>\n

        One of the barriers to entering politics faced by low income women and other marginalised groups is the cost of running and, if elected, taking up your seat. Emma Roddick, a young disabled woman elected for the SNP in the Highlands and Islands, tweeted about the costs of running for election and received social media abuse. Other female disabled candidates faced physical barriers, such as Pam Duncan-Glancy, elected for Scottish Labour in Glasgow, who was denied entry to the count because officials didn\u2019t believe she was a candidate.<\/p>\n

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        Two BAME women were the first to be elected to the Scottish Parliament, Kaukub Stewart of the SNP and Pam Gosal of the Scottish Conservatives, joining a cohort of only 6 BAME MSPs out of a total of 129.<\/p>\n

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        It is good<\/strong> that there are some ethnic minority people standing for the 2021 Scottish Parliamentary elections. I hope they are standing in seats they can actually win. Agnes Holmes Sceptical Scot October 2020\u00a0<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        Why does diverse representation matter, particularly when it comes to gender?<\/p>\n