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‘Not Falling but Stalling’. Women and the 2011 Scottish Parliament Elections. Where are the women?. ‘Stalling not falling’. 2011: 45 women MSPs elected (34.8%) Compared to: 2007: 43 women (33.3%) 2003: 51 women (39.5%) 1999: 48 women (37.2%)
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‘Not Falling but Stalling’ Women and the 2011 Scottish Parliament Elections
‘Stalling not falling’ • 2011: 45 women MSPs elected (34.8%) • Compared to: • 2007: 43 women (33.3%) • 2003: 51 women (39.5%) • 1999: 48 women (37.2%) • Raises questions as to future prospects for women’s representation in Scotland
Gender Breakdowns Table 1: Scottish Parliament 2011 by party and gender
Party Measures to Improve Women’s Representation • ‘Soft’ measures – e.g. gender-balanced shortlists, training, encouragement • Labour & Lib Dems – gender-balanced shortlists • BUT, not uniformly implemented or enforced • Hard ‘equality guarantees’ – e.g. ‘twinning’, all-women shortlists, zipping • Labour & Greens – gender templates on the list (alternating men and women in top places)
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
Future prospects? • Number of women once again the result of ‘accident rather than design’ (Mackay 2003; Mackay and Kenny 2007, 2009) • Gender equality measures poorly institutionalised within parties • Little room for complacency as the Parliament enters its fourth term….