Increase in women MPs in Scotland - anlaysis of the election
10 May 2010
Meryl Kenny and Fiona MacKay from Edinburgh University have produced the following analysis of the 2010 General Election for Engender
Women’s representation in the 2010 General Election: a view from Scotland
In an election that rewrote British politics but left the Scottish political landscape untouched, there is another story of change: a record number of Scottish women MPs has been elected to Westminster. But in the overall context of women’s chronic minority status in politics, that is not saying much: it adds up to a modest increase of only four. In total 13 women will take up their Scottish seats in Westminster compared with nine in 2005. Gains across the UK have been similarly modest with 142 women returned in the 2010 General Election (22%).
Whilst this modest progress is to be welcomed, Westminster remains a long way short of parity or of achieving the levels of women’s representation in the Scottish parliament (currently 34.9%). Before we get too excited, it is worth noting that this result brings Westminster up to joint 50th in the world league tables on women’s representation – sharing a place with Eritrea, Latvia and Uzbekistan (www.ipu.org). In terms of Scotland, only 41 women have held Scottish seats at Westminster since 1923 (see Appendix 1).
Commentators and women’s organisations such as Engender, Fawcett Society and Centre for Women and Democracy have criticized the ‘presidential-style’ media election campaigns North and South of the border for relegating women politicians and women’s issues to the sidelines. Senior UK figures such as Harriet Harman, Yvette Cooper and Theresa May were largely invisible, and in Scotland, high profile candidates such as former Scottish executive ministers Margaret Curran and Cathy Jamieson also received little coverage. The 2010 election was dominated by the televised debates. They were groundbreaking as a media “first” but were depressingly familiar in other respects. The UK political leaders- all men, and the Scottish political leaders- all men, were put through their paces by media presenters – all men. Outside the televised debates, most media coverage of the campaign concentrated on the male party leaders – or the outfits and activities of their wives.
The issue of women’s under representation in politics had been back on the agenda of all the parties in recent years, driven in the main by UK Conservative party leader – and soon-to-be Prime Minister- David Cameron’s vocal support for tackling the issue, and his determination to change the face of the party he inherited in 2005. Theresa May MP Shadow Minister for Women established an internal pressure group Tory Women2Win with the aim of achieving a target of 30% female candidates in winnable seats. This provided momentum for campaigners inside other parties, particularly the Labour party, because it made the issue one on which the parties might potentially compete to demonstrate their modernity and relevance to the electorate, and to target women’s votes.
The Conservatives nationally fielded 24% women candidates this time round, up from 19% in the last General Election. In Scotland, the increase was superficially dramatic, from 8.6% to 30.5%, from a very low base (see Tables 1 and 2). However the overall picture is less impressive: across the parties, the average percentage of women candidates fielded in the General Election rose only marginally from 20% to 21%. Again, in Scotland, the increase was more marked, from 18.4% to 24.6% albeit relating to small numbers (see Tables 1 and 2). Alone of the main political parties, the Liberal Democrats fielded fewer women in 2010 across the UK, including Scotland, than it did in 2005, perhaps surprising for a party that claims to be a harbinger of modernity, fairness and change.
Focussing on the Scottish results (see Table 3): Labour women make up eleven of the thirteen. Sitting MPs Anne Begg (Aberdeen South), Sandra Osborne (Ayr), Katy Clark (Ayrshire North and Aran), Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) and Anne McGuire (Stirling) are joined by newcomers Pamela Nash (Airdrie and Shotts), Gemma Doyle (Dunbartonshire West), Fiona O’Donnell (East Lothian), Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East), Margaret Curran (Glasgow East), and Cathy Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudon). They are joined by one returning Liberal Democrat, Jo Swinson (Dunbartonshire East), and the new SNP member for Banff and Buchan, Eilidh Whiteford, successor to Alex Salmond.
Five of the six new women Scottish Labour MPs were selected from all-women-shortlists, including Pamela Nash who, at 25, is the youngest MP at Westminster. Labour was the only party to adopt quota-type equality measures and this is reflected in the overall results. Women are a third of the Scottish Labour contingent but only 9% of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and 16.7% of SNP members. The sole Scottish Conservative and Unionist elected was a man.
Less than one in four candidates selected by the four main Scottish parties were women (24.6%). As Table 1 shows, the party breakdown is as follows: Scottish Labour 14 women out of 59 (23.7%); Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party 18 (30.5%); Scottish Liberal Democrats 10 (16.9%); and Scottish National Party 16 ( 27.1%). In contrast, the Scottish Green party, which only contested 20 seats, fielded 12 women (60%). In 2005, women were 16.9% of Scottish Labour candidates; 8.6 % of Scottish Conservative and Unionist candidates; 25.8% Scottish Liberal Democrat contenders; and, 22% of the SNP field.(See table 2)
As in the rest of the UK, the election saw unusually high levels of turn over as many sitting Scottish members of parliament retired or were deselected, several as a result of the Westminster Expenses scandal. On paper, this offered the opportunity to make considerable gains in terms of women’s representation. Overall, the election results demonstrate positive progress in the numbers of women elected. The percentage of women MPs elected from across the UK to Westminster has reached a record high, rising from 19.5% to 22%. Meanwhile, Scotland – which historically has a relatively poor record with regards to women’s representation in the House of Commons – is now on par with the rest of the UK (rising from 15.6% to 22% Scottish women MPs - see Figure 1).
There are also signs of progress in candidate selection figures, particularly in the case of the Conservative Party. When the parliament does reconvene, it will look significantly different – with substantially more women on the Conservative benches, and fewer women on the Labour and Liberal Democrat benches. Yet whilst the Conservatives under David Cameron reformed selection procedures, promoted a gender balanced “A” list of candidates and actively supported women candidates, it stopped short of taking quota-type measures. In the end it failed to reach its targets of 30% women in winnable seats and returning at least 60 female MPs to the 2010 parliament.
Despite some modest improvements, then, the results of the 2010 General Election still fall far short of equal representation. This underwhelming performance suggests significant progress is unlikely without greater commitment by the parties. There is substantial research evidence in Scotland and elsewhere that women candidates face significant barriers in the political recruitment process. Political parties can use a range of measures to counter these barriers. These include reform to selection procedures to make them fairer and more transparent and to ensure that equal opportunities are taken into consideration; positive action measures such as gender-balanced shortlists; and ‘equality guarantees’ – quota-type mechanisms such as ‘all-women shortlists’, ‘twinning’ constituency seats or applying gender templates such as ‘zipping’ to party lists . International evidence suggests that it is these strong ‘equality guarantee’ measures that are most likely to result in substantial improvements in women’s political representation . If political parties are serious about making real advances in women’s political representation, then they must follow the Labour Party’s lead and make a firm commitment - including the greater use of equality guarantees such as all-women shortlists - to ensure parity of representation at Westminster.
Appendix 1: List of Scottish women MPs since 1923
1. Katherine Murray, Conservative (in office 1923-1938, Kinross & West Perthshire)
2. Jennie Lee, Labour (in office 1929-1931, Lanarkshire Northern)
3. Florence Horsbrugh, Conservative (in office 1931-1945, Dundee)
4. Helen Shaw, Conservative (in office 1931-1935, Bothwell)
5. Agnes Hardie, Labour (in office 1937-1945, Glasgow Springburn)
6. Margaret Herbison, Labour (in office 1945-1970, Lanarkshire North)
7. Jean Mann, Labour (in office 1945-1959, Coatbridge)
8. Clarice Shaw, Labour (in office 1945-1946, Kilmarnock)
9. Lady Grant of Monymusk (later Lady Tweedsmuir), Conservative (in office 1946-1966, Aberdeen South)
10. Alice Cullen, Labour (in office 1948-1969, Glasgow Gorbals)
11. Mary McAlistair, Labour (in office 1958-1959, Glasgow Kelvingrove)
12. Betty Harvie Anderson, Conservative (in office 1959-1979, Renfrewshire East)
13. Judith Hart, Labour (in office 1959-1987, Lanark)
14. Winnie Ewing, SNP (in office 1967-1970, Hamilton; in office 1974-1979, Moray & Nairn)
15. Margo McDonald, SNP (elected 1973, Glasgow Govan)
16. Margaret Ewing (nee Bain), SNP (elected 1974-1979, Dunbartonshire East; 1987-2001, Moray)
17. Helen McEllhone, Labour (in office 1982-1983, Glasgow Queens Cross)
18. Anna McCurley, Conservative (in office 1983-1987, Renfrew West & Inverclyde)
19. Maria Fyfe, Labour (in office 1987-2001, Glasgow Maryhill)
20. Ray Michie, Liberal/ Liberal Democrat (in office 1987-2001, Argyll & Bute)
21. Irene Adams, Labour (in office 1990-2005, Paisley North)
22. Rachel Squire, Labour (in office 1992-2006, Dunfermline West)
23. Helen Liddell, Labour (in office 1994-2005, Monklands East)
24. Roseanna Cunningham, SNP (in office 1995-2001, Perth & Kinross)
25. Anne Begg, Labour (in office 1997-present, Aberdeen South)
26. Lynda Clark, Labour (in office, 1997-2005, Edinburgh Pentlands)
27. Anne McGuire, Labour (in office 1997-present, Stirling)
28. Rosemary McKenna, Labour (in office 1997-2010, Cumbernauld & Kilsyth)
29. Sandra Osborne, Labour (in office 1997-present, Ayr)
30. Annabelle Ewing, SNP (in office 2001-2005, Perth & Kinross)
31. Anne McKechin, Labour (in office 2001-present, Glasgow Maryhill/Glasgow North)
32. Anne Picking (later Moffat), Labour (in office 2001-2010, East Lothian)
33. Jo Swinson, Liberal Democrat (in office 2005-present, East Dunbartonshire)
34. Katy Clark, Labour (in office 2005-present, North Ayrshire & Arran)
35. Pamela Nash, Labour (in office 2010-present, Airdrie & Shotts)
36. Gemma Doyle, Labour (in office 2010-present, Dunbartonshire West)
37. Fiona O’Donnell, Labour (in office 2010-present, East Lothian)
38. Sheila Gilmore, Labour (in office 2010-present, Edinburgh East)
39. Margaret Curran, Labour (in office 2010-present, Glasgow East)
40. Cathy Jamieson, Labour (in office 2010-present, Kilmarnock & Loudoun)
41. Eilidh Whiteford, SNP (in office 2010-present, Banff & Buchan)
