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Not Falling but Stalling

Where are the women?

Gender Breakdowns

Party Female Male Total % female

SNP 19 50 69 27.5%

Labour 17 20 37 45.9%

Conservatives 6 9 15 40.0%

Liberal Democrats 1 4 5 20.0%

Others 2 1 3 66.7%

Total 45 84 129 34.8%

Table 1: Scottish Parliament 2011 by party and gender

Gender Breakdowns

Table 2: Scottish Parliament 2011 by party, seat and gender

Party Constituency Total seats const (%women)

List Total seats list (%women)

Total MSPs

Total Women

Total Men

% women (%women 2007) female male female male

Labour 6 9 15 (40%)

SNP 14 39 53

Cons 0 3 3 (0.0%)

Lib Dems 0 2 2 (0.0%)

Greens 0 0 0 (0.0%)

Ind 0 0 0 (0.0%)

Totals 20 53 73 (27.4%)

Candidate Selection

Proportion of women constituency candidates by party, 1999-

0

10

20

30

40

50

1999 2003 2007 2011 election year

percentage women

Labour SNP Conservatives Liberal Democrats

Candidate Selection

Proportion of women list candidates by party, 1999-

0

10

20

30

40

50

1999 2003 2007 2011 election year

percentage women

Labour SNP Conservatives Liberal Democrats Greens

Underlying trends

• Trends across parties of stasis or decline in number of

women MSPs (e.g. Labour, SNP, Lib Dems), or large

percentage increases based on small numerical gains

(Conservatives)

• Efficacy of strong equality measures (Labour, Greens)

• But, further progress unlikely without greater

commitment by other parties (especially the SNP)

• Questions as to whether Scottish Labour will continue to

lead the way on women’s representation

Why does it matter?

• Arguments on the grounds of equality, justice and

fairness

• Expectations that women MSPs would ‘make a

difference’ (e.g. domestic violence agenda)

• Potentially far-reaching implications in terms of the

Scottish Parliament’s symbolic importance, political

culture, and policy outcomes