TWENTY years ago she performed A Man’s a Man for a’ That as she helped re-open the Scottish Parliament. Yesterday singer Sheena Wellington went back to Burns as she recited from the Bard’s Rights of Woman before an all-female chamber set upon transforming the country’s politics.
Participants travelled from all over the country to join the Scotland’s Women Stand event in Edinburgh. Attendees filled the 400-capacity main chamber and the waiting list was 300 strong.
With many others attending regional events at satellite hubs in Lerwick, Lochgilphead, Aberdeen and Stornoway, more still tuned in remotely, viewing on smartphones and from sofas thanks to a live stream hosted on the Scottish Parliament’s TV service.
Reading the 18th-century verse to an audience fixed on the future, Wellington said:
“While Europe’s eye is fix’d on mighty things
The fate of Empires and the fall of Kings
While quacks of State must each produce his plan
And even children lisp the Rights of Man
Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention
The Rights of Woman merit some attention”.
It’s a stanza that those behind Scotland’s Women Stand say is “eerily fitting” in today’s climate, which is dominated by Brexit, Boris, Farage and Corbyn.
And while women comprise more than half of this country’s population, most politicians are still men.
Though the First Minister is a woman, there are fewer female MSPs now – 35% – than there were when Wellington sang in 1999. At council level, men take up around 70% of seats.
That’s despite work to identify and overcome the structural and social barriers women face in attaining office, such as higher caring responsibilities and an electoral system that can favour incumbent, male, candidates.
Lee Chalmers, director of The Parliament Project, one of the groups behind Scotland’s Women Stand, says converting attendees to elected members is foremost in her mind.
Anticipating an overall audience of around 900 before events began yesterday morning, she said: “Even if 10% went forward and got elected, we would be talking about a radical uptick in numbers.
“The event is for women at any stage of their political journey. We’ve got MSPs and councillors coming and sharing experiences, we’ve got women who have stood for election, we’ve got women who haven’t joined a political party yet. We want to nudge women forward, no matter where they are.”
Speakers included members of the Scottish Youth Parliament, community councillors and Cabinet ministers.
Deputy Presiding Officer Linda Fabiani welcomed attendees, with Equalities Minister Christina McKelvie delivering a keynote speech. There were sessions devoted to black and ethnic minority women, and those with disabilities – groups even further marginalised in public life.
Talat Yaqoob of the Women 50:50 campaign took part, as did new Shetland LibDem MSP Beatrice Wishart – the first female ever to represent the constituency at Holyrood – and the entire day was consciously non-partisan.
Chalmers says the strong demand for places shows how ready women are for change. “Something has tipped,” she says. “Women want to say ‘I can do a better job than that and I’m not going to pretend I’m not capable’. We can’t wait, no-one is going to save us.”
GLASGOW City Council’s Jen Layden agrees there is a “sense of urgency” about the need to “protect and uphold” women’s rights by effecting policy changes around transport, childcare, services, work and welfare – all of which can impact differently on women due to working patterns, safety concerns, family respon-sibilities and other issues.
It is hoped the 2021 Holyrood election and 2022 council contest will see a record number of women achieve office.
But Layden, her council’s convenor for community empowerment, equalities and human rights, cautions that progress may not be a straight line. “Women continue to have more commitments to balance when they take on a political career,” she says. “And the political system and culture is moving in the right direction, but not fast enough. I’ve spoken to women who may not stand for a second term.
“We may lose this talent, knowledge and experience.
“I would strongly encourage any women to come forward, speak to other female elected members. Whilst this is a tough role, most would tell you of the life-changing and rewarding experience of being elected. We can, as women, lead policy change and improve lives for constituents and communities.”
Alison Johnstone, Green MSP for the Lothians and a co-founder of Women 50:50, shares Layden’s concerns. “In 1999 we had a similar ratio, then went backwards,” she says. “We should have been building on that progressively, and as quickly as possible.
“I wholeheartedly support legislation which would mean all parties have to put forward 50% women candidates in the Scottish Parliament and council elections.
“When I was a councillor, I remember several nurseries were facing closure. My surgeries were full of concerned parents and carers, almost exclusively women, yet when I got into the council chamber, this wasn’t the case at all. This isn’t to say that men don’t care about such issues, of course they do, but where was the representation?
“I don’t feel we’ve moved on nearly enough.”
Around 100 places in the Parliament’s Project online peer mentoring network were available yesterday to delegates ready to grasp the thistle and pursue politics.
Labour’s Alison Evison, president of local authority body Cosla, said the event had “given a focus to many of the dedicated, driven and inspiring women” who could help close the representation gap described by Johnstone.
“Too often these same women face barriers to entry to elected office,” she says. “An understanding of the steps that local and national government in Scotland need to take to combat these barriers is crucial if we wish to see a more equal society.
“Women working together, and supporting each other, is an important way to address these barriers.”
Six to watch
SNP: Alison Thewliss, Glasgow Central MP– respected, committed and hands-on, Thewliss uncovered the “rape clause”, champions cultural change around breastfeeding and is pressing the Home Office to give Glasgow the power to open the UK’s first legal drug injection facility in a bid to save lives.
GREENS: Susan Rae, Edinburgh councillor – drawing from her own experience of homelessness, Rae, a vocal advocate for her Leith Walk constituency, campaigns on key poverty and accommodation issues.
TORIES: Annie Wells, Glasgow MSP – high-profile list MSP, among those suggested as a replacement for Ruth Davidson. Currently holder of the mental health, public health and equalities brief, Wells has been open about overcoming homophobic bullying and is an LGBT advocate. LABOUR: Danielle Rowley, Midlothian MP – shadow cabinet member, passionate about getting more young people into politics. She’s also the first woman to tell the Commons she was on her period, part of her period poverty campaign.
LIBDEM: Sheila Ritchie MEP – Scottish Government appointee to the European Economic and Social Committee, solicitor Ritchie has vowed to help stop Brexit “worry and uncertainty”.
INDEPENDENT: Emma Macdonald, Shetland councillor – deputy council leader Macdonald left school at 16 and has said that there’s “no wrong path” to elected office.
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