MSP candidate lists show how far Scotland has to go for women’s equality

What will the Scottish Parliament look like after the election? Thanks to candidate lists, we now have a clearer view – and it appears very male.

But in a country where women outnumber men, our political system is clearly still failing to get it right. Because while as many as 660 males will go before the electorate next month, fewer than 360 women will do the same.

The number – a 45 per cent disparity – covers all parties and independents and also includes those standing in constituency and regional contests, meaning there is some overlap. After all, many candidates double-up to increase their chances.

But the discrepancy remains. And you wouldn’t know it to look at that slate, but there are around 2.7million women in this country to 2.6m men.

So why is it that there are no women to vote for in as many as six constituency areas?

You could argue, of course, that we’ve never had it so good. After all, women’s representation at Holyrood hit a peak of 45 per cent in the 2021 vote. We had a female first minister then in Nicola Sturgeon, who was one of two party leaders with XX chromosomes, the other being Lorna Slater of the Greens.

Both have since exited those roles, with Sturgeon now stepping down from parliament altogether, although Gillian Mackay is the Greens co-leader.

That increase in elected women also led to increased representation in leadership roles throughout the parliament, with women making up just over half of committee convenors and 14 out of 11 members of government.

The change followed sustained efforts to achieve parity, with parties adopting quota systems to avoid a ‘boys club’ result.

But it didn’t usher in a new age: in the local government elections the following year, only 35 per cent of councillors elected were female. The same number applies to the Scottish MP cohort from 2024.

At the same time, we’re seeing a swathe women leave parliament this time of asking, including Shona Robison, Liz Smith, Beatrice Wishart, Sarah Boyack and many more – taking their knowledge and experience with them.

The SNP has said it will commit £300,000 to a Women’s Participation Fund to help boost equality in politics, if it is returned. Going by the figures here, there’s significant work to be done.

In the constituency battles alone, there are 55 per cent more men standing than women.

Those six constituencies without a female candidate? Cumbernauld & Kilsyth, East Lothian & Lammermuirs, Glasgow Anniesland, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Orkney and Renfrewshire West & Levern Valley.

As many as 4.2m people are registered to vote, according to National Records of Scotland. The contest will be the first with a new set of boundaries, with some local alterations more significant than others, and the number of foreign nationals on the electoral register is now higher than ever, making up 4.6 per cent of the total.

Meanwhile, just six in 10 of the 16 and 17-year-olds eligible to vote are actually registered, with the deadline of 20 April looming, and around one in five of all electors have put in for postal votes.