The next generation of the Scottish Parliament will look very different

The move comes as campaigners warn that parties across the political spectrum need to seize the opportunity to make the Scottish Parliament more diverse in 2021.

Despite its image as a progressive institution, Holyrood has only had four BAME MSPs in its two decades of existence – and all have been male.

Scotland has dropped from being second in the world for women’s representation in parliament in 2003 to 30th as other countries catch up, campaigners say.

Thirteen SNP MSPs have so far announced they do not intend to seek re-election, with the list including high-profile names such as Scottish Government ministers Jeane Freeman, Michael Russell, Roseanna Cunningham and Aileen Campbell.

A total of seven are original “99-ers”, who were elected in the first term of the Scottish Parliament.

The SNP said they aim to improve the diversity of the next generation of MSPs, with all-women contests in particular seats and an aim of achieving 50/50 representation and gender equality.

With the Black Lives Matter movement putting the spotlight on diversity issues, it has set a target to have at least four people from the BAME community and at least two self-declared disabled members standing in constituency seats next year.

Other parties also say they have changed selection processes and are providing more support and outreach to encourage candidates from different backgrounds to come forward.

Hannah Stevens, director of The Parliament Project, which aims to increase access into politics for women, said all parties in Scotland had to be “brave and bold”.

“I really hope over next year’s Scottish Parliament election and the council elections the following year we are really going to see progress,” she said.

“We remain hopeful and optimistic and await eagerly to see the selections that are made.”

She pointed out there has only ever been one woman of colour to represent Scotland in any parliament – Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, who was SNP MP for Ochil and South Perthshire from 2015-2017.

“It will be such a disappointment if next year we don’t have a Scottish woman of colour in the Scottish Parliament — it will be devastating,” Stevens said.

“This is such an opportunity to take another important step forward.”

The election in 2003 remains the high point of women’s representation in the Scottish Parliament – but even then it was only 39.5%.

In the last Holyrood election in 2016, only 45 women - 34.9% – were elected, exactly the same proportion as in 2011.

The most recent ranking of parliaments around the world compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union shows Rwanda is top with 61% of women holding seats, followed by Cuba and Bolivia both at 53%.

The Parliament Project holds workshops and events – currently online – to train and support women to get ready to stand for elected office in all spheres of government across the UK.

Last week more than 50 women attended a meeting to learn about life as an MSP with SNP MSP and Equalities Minister Christina McKelvie and LibDem MSP Beatrice Wishart.

Stevens said it showed the interest from women is there, although she pointed out there are generally fewer women than men making the step into politics across the UK.

“That is the piece of the pie we are working on, but there are lots of

women – so it’s also they are not necessarily being selected for winnable seats,” she said.

“We can inform and affirm and prepare and equip women to stand for elected office, but unless the political parties develop strategies to ensure these amazing diverse range of women who are putting themselves forward for selection are actually selected for winnable seats, progress will not be made at the rate it should.”

Alys Mumford, of feminist organisation Engender and Women 50:50, which campaigns for equal representation of women in politics, said it was vital to raise the issue while the parties were selecting candidates.

She said: “Now is a really good time to be having this conversation as this is a really good opportunity – especially with lots of big hitters stepping down – to be talking about this.

“We are eagerly awaiting the announcements of the various parties.”

She said it was the “right decision” for the SNP to use all-women contests for certain seats.

“We have such an over-dominance of men in politics, that we absolutely need quotas, all-women shortlists and other mechanisms to try and balance that out,” she said.

“It definitely does enable women to stand, it removes a pretty major barrier – which is men.

“Men having had a longer ‘career’ in a party – which is based on things like how many doors you have chapped and on presenteeism – does block women out. So all-women shortlists are vital for that.”

THE SNP would not confirm to the Sunday National how many seats for 2021 will use all-women shortlists, which can be mandated in the party in any seat where the incumbent SNP MSP is standing down.

A plan to have an all-women contest for Glasgow Cathcart was reversed by the party last month, after current MSP James Dornan challenged the decision. He had announced he would not stand again in February but subsequently changed his mind.

However Mumford said more also had to be done to provide practical help for women entering politics, such as childcare support and making sure meetings are not just held in the evenings.

She also said parties should be stepping in to support candidates over the often “toxic nature” of

social media.

When she announced her decision to quit last week, Health Secretary Freeman spoke of her concerns that young women may be put off a career in politics because of sexist attacks directed at female politicians.

She said: “I think some of what happens in social media is particularly toxic. I think only women politicians are subject to comments about how they look, how they dress and what size they are.

“If you are clear in what you want to do, that means you are bossy or nippy, all sorts of adjectives that are never applied to men.”

Mumford said there was a danger that talking about the issue would deter women from getting involved in politics, but it was better to be “honest and upfront” about what they may face.

“We know it is a daily reality for women, so it is much better to say if this happens, the party has got a system to reach out to you and make sure you are doing okay,” she said.

“There are really practical steps that can be taken so it doesn’t feel like just saying ‘you put yourself forward so that is just what you get as a woman in politics’ – which is the attitude we do tend to see at the

moment.”

There also needs to be more focus on diverse groups of candidates standing as well, Mumford said, including from BAME communities, carers and disabled women.

“We need to ensure it is not just replacing white middle-class men with white middle-class women, but we actually get a more representative parliament,” she said.

“We need to have a system where people across Scotland can see themselves represented in the

Parliament.

“It is not so much about numbers, but about everyone in Scotland feeling the Parliament belongs to them and their voice is being heard in some way in the chamber.”