STAMPING out sexism in the General Election campaign will be top of the agenda when about 500 women attend Women for Independence’s first annual general meeting tomorrow.
Campaigners have been given a renewed sense of determination following recent highly personal attacks on Nicola Sturgeon.
In one, the First Minister was dismissed as “the wee lassie with the tin helmet on” by Labour MP David Hamilton, while a few days later The Sun newspaper depicted her as a scantily clad Miley Cyrus writhing on a wrecking ball apparently “set to destroy a recovering economy.”
Jeane Freeman, a former Labour activist whose robust exchange with TV political interviewer Andrew Neil became a YouTube hit during the referendum campaign, said the sexism and misogyny that had become prevalent suggested the UK’s male power elite felt challenged by a strong woman First Minister.
The co-founder of Women for Independence said: “Here we have a prominent, leading politician who is a woman, who is more than able. They haven’t found yet anything they can really criticise about what she’s doing, saying, about her political acumen. She hasn’t put a foot wrong so far.
“So where they go is they start talking about her appearance, her personal characteristics.
“On the one hand while this is deeply unpleasant, poor and shallow, on the other hand for me it is a huge indicator that that elite feels challenged and I’m glad they do.”
The Sun’s feature and “mock up” image, which did not appear in the newspaper’s Scottish edition, were immediately condemned by leading women in rival parties, with both Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Kezia Dugdale and Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson condemning the coverage.
Under the headline “Tartan Barmy”, the article was an attempt to discredit the SNP as a possible Coalition partner with Labour in the event of a hung parliament after the May poll.
The newspaper was also condemned as racist after the wrong photograph was used for Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, a columnist for The National and a SNP candidate.
The spread was published just a few days after Labour MP David Hamilton described Nicola Sturgeon as "the wee lassie with the tin helmet on".
Party whip Hamilton was accused of sexism after the "disgraceful slur" about the First Minister at Scottish Labour’s spring conference.
The remark, which is thought to be a reference to the SNP leader’s height and haircut, was greeted with laughter. He was later "pulled up" about his comments by deputy Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale.
A Scottish Labour spokesman said at the time: "David Hamilton acknowledged his comment was inappropriate immediately after he made it.’"
Women for Independence was founded in 2012 and campaigned for a Yes vote in the independence referendum in 2014.
After the referendum the movement continued.
The AGM will take place at St Matthew’s Church of Scotland in Perth, where the organisation will adopt a new constitution, announce the results of its first elections for the National Committee and ratify affiliated local Women for Independence groups working in their own communities.
Women for Independence currently has about 600 members, around 50 per cent of whom belong to political parties. Most were not involved in politics until they joined the movement.
The group has more than 9,000 followers and its post-referendum meeting planned for early next month in Perth is so over-subscribed it is looking for a larger venue.
Sturgeon has promised to improve women’s participation in public life – notably appointing a Cabinet with a 50 per cent gender split when she became First Minister.
The Scottish Parliament has achieved Nordic levels of female representation – 35 per cent of its MSPs are women, although that has slightly dropped from what was called a “gender coup” in 1999 when the first intake of MSPs to the new Scottish parliament saw women make up almost 40 per cent.
Women MPs are on the rise
WOMEN could make up almost three-tenths of MPs after the General Election, according to new research, but the first-past-the-post system remains a “major barrier” to their representation.
The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) has predicted that 192 women could be elected to the House of Commons on May 7 – up 44 from the current 148 and the highest proportion in the history of Parliament.
However, its progress towards more equal gender representation in the House of Commons was still “incredibly slow.”
According to the ERS predictions, Labour could have 41 per cent women MPs – up from 34 per cent now – and the Conservatives could see their female representation rise from 16 per cent to 20 per cent. But Liberal Democrats could be left with a solitary woman on their benches, compared to their current tally of seven.
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