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‘Not Falling but Stalling’

In the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections, the number of women MSPs elected slightly increased to 45 (34.8%), yet remained below previous years. This raises concerns about the future prospects for women's representation in Scotland. The gender breakdowns across parties show varying levels of progress, with some implementing measures to enhance women's participation. However, there are underlying trends of stagnation or decline in women MSPs across parties, highlighting the need for stronger commitment to gender equality measures. The significance of women's representation extends to issues of equality, justice, and policy outcomes, emphasizing the need for continued efforts to address the imbalance. As the Scottish Parliament enters its fourth term, there is a call for more institutionalization of gender equality measures within political parties to ensure sustained progress in women's representation.

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‘Not Falling but Stalling’

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  1. ‘Not Falling but Stalling’ Women and the 2011 Scottish Parliament Elections

  2. Where are the women?

  3. ‘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

  4. Gender Breakdowns Table 1: Scottish Parliament 2011 by party and gender

  5. Gender Breakdowns

  6. Gender Breakdowns

  7. Candidate Selection

  8. Candidate Selection

  9. 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)

  10. 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

  11. 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

  12. 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….

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