Engender blog
Before the Ballot - Why Candidate Assessment is a crucial step on the journey to more equal representation in politics
With partners in the Equal Representation Coalition, Engender is launching a brand new chapter of the Equal Representation in Politics Toolkit focusing on Candidate Assessment. Ahead of the Scottish Parliament and Local Council elections in 2026 and 2027, now is the time for parties to review how aspiring candidates gain approval to stand if we're to see more diversity on the ballot. Our Development Officer for Equal Representation, Jessie Duncan, explains how the new Toolkit chapter can help.
Before the ballot
When we think about how to make councils and parliaments more representative of the communities they serve, we normally think about elections. How do we elect more women, more minority ethnic people, more disabled people and more LGBTI people? The ultimate decision about who makes it off the ballot and into our councils and parliaments, of course, rests with voters. But in reality, so much about elections is already decided long before polling day. Parties largely have control over who makes it onto the ballot, with many decisions taken in the months and years leading up to election day, shaping the outcome before any votes have been cast.
Parties decide who becomes a candidate through the process of candidate selection. Selection is where the party decides on who from a list of nominees will become the party candidate at the upcoming election. There is a lot of evidence showing the positive impact that using different policies, such as voluntary quotas during selection, can have on the diversity of elected representatives. However this is only useful if there is a diverse pool of potential candidates available to choose from.
Candidate assessment and discrimination
Not just anyone is allowed to put themselves forward for selection - aspiring candidates will usually have to gain the party's approval. This process is known as candidate assessment (sometimes called vetting, screening or shortlisting), and it is at this stage that the first decisions about who our elected representatives will be are taken. Processes vary but usually involve some combination of written application form, an interview with a panel , and might include a test before a final decision is made. Some parties might use these stages to filter, and just like any recruitment process, without consideration of how to combat discrimination and to ensure equal access, candidate assessment risks stifling a more equal, representative politics right at the outset.
Chronic underepresentation – It's not good enough
Unfortunately, no robust data that would tell us about the protected characteristics of our elected representatives is published at the moment, but what we do know tells us that across our councils and parliaments, underrepresentation of marginalised groups is rife – for instance, women make up approximately just 35% of councillors in Scotland, and it took until 2021 for the first two women of colour to be elected to the Scottish Parliament. This kind of chronic underrepresentation benefits no one – we know that when there is meaningful diverse representation, better decision-making follows. Parties have a tremendous responsibility to their membership and to the communities they seek to serve to ensure that candidate assessment processes do not enable and reward only those whose experiences and pathways to politics conform to an outdated status quo of what makes a politician – because it's clear that the status quo is broken.
What will help?
While progress on increasing diversity is often focused on electoral outcomes, to ensure that progress at the ballot box is sustainable, it's essential to look at all stages of the journey and to invest in developing a strong, diverse pipeline of future candidates. This means considering how potential candidates are developed, supported and assessed. As well as being a responsibility, this offers parties a huge opportunity to put into practice often-stated principles when it comes to building a fairer, more equal society.
Parties must ask themselves:
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What qualities and experiences do we want to see more of in public life?
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Is the way we assess potential candidates perpetuating inequality?
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Are our values as a party reflected in the candidates that we approve to stand?
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Are we meeting our legal duties to ensure a fair and open process under the Equality Act?
To help answer these questions, we're launching a new chapter of the Equal Representation Toolkit, focused on Candidate Assessment. The chapter is aimed primarily at party members and staff who are involved in assessing candidates or in designing assessment processes. Guidance is given on how to run an inclusive and accessible candidate assessment approach that enables people from a wider range of backgrounds to succeed. This includes looking at things like how to advertise and raise awareness of the assessment process; providing equalities training for people involved in assessment; valuing diverse experience; and how to provide constructive feedback and ongoing support for unsuccessful applicants.
As with the rest of the Toolkit, users are invited to take a self-assessment quiz and receive a bespoke action plan highlighting areas for reflection and recommendations for improvement. The Toolkit is easy-to-use and each chapter takes no more than 5 minutes. We can also offer workshops and 1-2-1 support – please get in touch with us if you're interested.
While all attention may be focused on campaigning for the General Election, it's essential to remember what comes next. We are currently 2 and 3 years out from the next Holyrood and local council elections, but it is likely that the processes which will shape these results will begin much sooner. Candidate assessment is the first in a chain of decisions that determine who our elected representatives will be. It's up to parties to make sure that hopes for greater equality in our democracy are built on strong foundations – starting with asking who is given the chance to be on the ballot.
Where are the women? Nearly 500 women are ‘missing’ from key positions of power in Scotland
New figures from Engender show that 471 women are ‘missing’ from key positions of power in Scotland.
The report, which examines a range of areas across public life – including politics, health, sport and media – paints a concerning picture. The report identified 3383 positions of power in Scotland, with only 1222 (just over a third) held by women. Men continue to hold two-thirds of positions of power in Scotland and were significantly over-represented in 33 of the 38 areas of public life examined - with only 5 areas demonstrating at least 50% of women in leadership positions. This is despite women making up 51% of Scotland’s population, 49% of its labour market, and girls routinely leaving school with higher levels of educational attainment on average.
Making it Happen for 2027: Transforming Local Democracy for Women
Today Engender, Elect Her and Women 50:50 are launching a campaign to build a future where women’s equal representation in councils is realised. “Making it Happen for 2027: Transforming Local Democracy for Women” is a call to action aimed at all of those who have the power to shape this outcome – including councils, councillors, government, political parties and the news media.
At the May 2022 election, the number of women councillors increased from 29 per cent to 35 per cent, an increase of just 6 per cent. Women have long been excluded within Scotland’s local councils, and although we do not have the data we need to clearly understand the diversity of our representatives, what we do know tells us that Black and minority ethnic women, disabled women and LBTI women experience this exclusion on even greater scales. For instance, Scotland’s capital city has only one woman of colour councillor, despite being one of the most diverse areas of the country. And, despite the small increase in the number of women councillors nationally, Women 50:50 have found that if this rate of change is allowed to continue, we will not see gender equality in our local councils until 2037.
GUEST POST: Looking Deeper: Black and Minority Ethnic Women in the Scottish Parliament
Today we're publishing the next blog in a series from the current student placements Engender is hosting from the University of Strathclyde Applied Gender Studies and Research Methods course.
Mary Galloway concludes her blog series in this third post, which focuses more deeply on the discussions of Black and minority ethnic women in the Scottish Parliament, and the importance of Parliament understanding the distinct ways that racialised and gendered oppression take shape for different communities. You can read Mary's first post here and second post here.
In this final blog, I will carry out a more focused analysis of the results produced by my research into the representation of women facing multiple discriminations in the Scottish Parliament. I have so far talked about 'women with multiple protected characteristics' quite abstractly. It is important to think about who these women actually are and why it matters that the multiplicity of their marginalisation is acknowledged. Black and minority ethnic (BME) women face both gendered and racial oppression, providing them with experiences that are distinct from white women and Black men. For example, Black and minority ethnic women were some of the worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, it is crucial that the Scottish Parliament is attentive to the specific needs of this group.
In my search of the content of Scottish Parliamentary business during its 5th session, I used search terms of 'Black women', 'Asian women', 'women of colour', 'BME women' and 'Black and minority ethnic women'. The search term that produced the majority of results for this category of women was the latter term of Black and minority ethnic women. Though this term is importantly inclusive of the diverse ethnicities of women in Scotland, its domination in the results also displays a degree of homogenisation. The needs of Asian women and Black women are not necessarily symmetrical; for example, forced marriage and 'honour’-based violence are forms of abuse that particularly affect Asian women. Consequently, although Black and minority ethnic women all face racialised and gendered oppression, it is important that the distinct way that these take shape for different communities is discussed and understood in Parliament.
A number of BME women's issues were covered in the various areas of parliamentary business. For example, there was recognition of the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on Black and minority ethnic women and the prevalence of workplace harassment and discrimination against them. Upon comparing the content of the remarks made by MSPs versus witnesses in the Official Report, there was a notable difference. Witnesses' mentions of Black and minority ethnic women tended to be highly detailed and substantive, whereas MSPs' references tended to go no further than a nod to the difficulty of BME women's lives and calls for more diverse representation generally. MSPs' discussions of BME women were largely quite shallow despite the richness of witnesses' evidence. Furthermore, often when BME women were mentioned by MSPs, they were listed alongside a number of other marginalised women. For example, in a Meeting of the Parliament on International Women's Day 2020, Alison Johnstone of the Scottish Greens said that Parliament should tackle the harassment of women of colour, LBT (lesbian, bisexual, transgender) women, disabled women and refugee women in the workplace. Although this is a very important problem facing women with multiple protected characteristics worthy of discussion, it does not pay attention to the specific discrimination of BME women that is both racialised and gendered. This illustrates a lack of engagement with the fundamental notion that underpins intersectionality, whereupon the needs of communities with multiple protected characteristics are specific and in need of concentrated attention. It is consequently important for MSPs to make the most of the information provided to them by witnesses and their constituents about the reality of BME women's lives in order to affect change in their favour.
This focused look at the case of BME women has provided an insight into the details behind the numbers provided in previous blogs. Such an examination is vital as it uncovers not just how often women with multiple protected characteristics are being mentioned but what is actually being said in these instances. The discussion of Black and minority ethnic women must not be a tick-box exercise, and neither should the discussion of any women facing multiple discriminations.
GUEST POST: Who are the conversation starters in the Scottish Parliament when it comes to marginalised women?
Today we're publishing the next blog in a series from the current student placements Engender is hosting from the University of Strathclyde Applied Gender Studies and Research Methods course.
In Mary Galloway's second post, she builds on her research into how often multiply marginalised women are mentioned in the Scottish Parliament. Here, she looks more closely at who is starting these conversations and why this further calls for more diverse representation in Parliament. You can read Mary's first post here and third post here.
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