A commitment to equality was firmly established as a key principle when the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales were founded over a decade ago. In the intervening years both became international beacons of progress in establishing higher levels of representation for women in politics.
But today’s election results confirm what the Hansard Society warned of a year ago in its report, ‘Has Devolution Delivered For Women’.
- The number of women in the next Assembly has declined to 25 AMs (41.7%) – the lowest number of female AMs since the first Assembly elections in 1999;
- The number of women in the next Scottish Parliament has only marginally improved to 46 MSPs (35.6%)
In both Scotland and Wales the political parties said they were committed to building a new style of politics, creating new institutions that would not perpetuate old inequalities but would be more representative and inclusive than Westminster. But these election results confirm that in Cardiff and Edinburgh, as at Westminster, a democratic deficit remains as far as women representatives are concerned.
Given that the National Assembly for Wales was the first national legislature to break through the 50% barrier for women’s representation in 2003 and in that same year nearly 40% of members elected to Holyrood were women, today’s results are particularly disappointing but not unexpected.
The Hansard Society predicted in its report last year that a combination of the political parties’ selection policies coupled with their anticipated electoral performance, plus the retirement of a number of first generation incumbents would result in little progress being made to increase the number of women members elected to each legislature.
Dr Ruth Fox, Director of the Hansard Society’s Parliament and Government programme and joint author of Has Devolution Delivered for Women?, said, ‘Scotland and Wales have rightly been hailed as beacons of international progress on women’s representation in the last decade. But these results are a blow to that record. The number of women elected to the Welsh Assembly is going backwards which is particularly disappointing when the Assembly now has full law-making powers and the progress at Holyrood is glacial, raising questions about what the commitment to ‘new politics’ really means.’
‘A more diverse Assembly and Parliament, whose membership better reflects the society they serve, is essential for good policy-making and good governance. The presence of women in greater numbers within our political structures brings different experiences, perspectives and approaches to decision-making and policy formulation. A representative democracy is neither truly representative nor democratic if the life of the majority of the population is reflected in a minority of elected members.’
To this end the Hansard Society has joined with the Centre for Women and Democracy, the Fawcett Society and the Electoral Reform Society to form the Counting Women In campaign to address the lack of women in politics. We believe the under representation of women in Westminster, the devolved assemblies, and town halls around the UK represents a democratic deficit that undermines the legitimacy of decisions made in these chambers. Together, we will be fighting to ensure women have an equal presence and voice within our democratic system in the months and years ahead.
For further information, contact Virginia Gibbons at the Hansard Society on 020 7438 1225 / 07812 765 552
or
Dr Ruth Fox on 07779 666771 / r.fox@hansard.lse.ac.uk
|
SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT 2011 ELECTION |
No. of women (129 total seats) (2007 total in brackets) |
No of women in constituency seats (73 total seats) |
No of women in regional seats (56 total seats) |
|
Labour |
18 (23) |
7 |
11 |
|
Scottish National Party |
19 (12) |
14 |
5 |
|
Conservative |
6 (5) |
0 |
6 |
|
Liberal Democrat |
1 (2) |
0 |
1 |
|
Green Party |
1 (0) |
0 |
1 |
|
Independent / Other |
1 (1) |
0 |
1 |
|
TOTAL |
46 (43) |
21 |
25 |
Women as total % of Scottish Parliament
| 1999 Elections | 37.2% |
| 2003 Elections | 39.5% |
| 2007 Elections | 33.3% |
| 2011 Elections | 35.6% |
|
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR WALES 2011 ELECTION |
No. of women (60 total seats) (2007 total in brackets) |
No of women in constituency seats (40 total seats) |
No of women in regional seats (20 total seats) |
|
Labour |
15 (16) |
13 |
2 |
|
Plaid Cymru |
4 (7) |
1 |
3 |
|
Conservative |
4 (1) |
2 |
2 |
|
Liberal Democrat |
2 (3) |
1 |
1 |
|
Independent / Other |
0 (1) |
0 |
0 |
|
TOTAL |
25 (28) |
17 |
8 |
Women as total % of National Assembly for Wales
| 1999 Elections | 40% |
| 2003 Elections | 50% |
| 2007 Elections | 46.7% |
| 2011 Elections | 41.7% |
Editors’ Notes
- The Hansard Society is the UK’s leading independent, non-partisan political research and education charity.We aim to strengthen parliamentary democracy and encourage greater public involvement in politics.
- The Counting Women In campaign has recently been formed by the Centre for Women and Democracy (www.cfd.org.uk), the Fawcett Society (www.fawcettsociety.org.uk), the Electoral Reform Society (www.electoral-reform.org.uk) and the Hansard Society – further information about the campaign will follow in the weeks and months ahead.
- The 2011 election figures above are based on figures reported by BBC Scotland and BBC Wales.