Presiding Officer hopeful next Parliament will have equal gender split

Currently women make up 46 per cent of MSPs - the highest proportion since the devolved parliament was established in 1999 when women accounted for 37 per cent of elected members.

A small number of parliaments across the world have managed to achieve a gender balance including those in New Zealand and Mexico, both with 50 per cent women.

By comparison the report said women made up 35 per cent of members the UK Parliament (based on a snap shot taken in 15 June last year.)

READ MORE: MSPs face tougher rules on 'everyday sexism' after gender audit

A group made up of MSPs from all parties - of whom all but one were female - together with academic experts, have been working since early last year on the audit looking at equal representation at Holyrood.

It comes after several female MSPs stood down from Holyrood in 2021, citing the difficulties of balancing family life with their work in the Parliament.

In an interview with the Herald on Sunday following the release of ‘A Parliament for All’ report’ Ms Johnstone noted that Holyrood had becoming more inclusive in 2021 with the election of more women but also for the first time the election of women of colour and the election of a permanent wheelchair user.

But she said that while many observers admired Holyrood’s comparatively high gender balance, there was room for improvement.

“There has been very broad agreement that the parliament has done incredibly well. There are many parliaments that I meet who are very impressed with where we’ve got to and do understand the progress that has been made since 1999.

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"This report is a step towards making sure we embed what we have done and to make sure we can build on this very good progress,” she said.

Asked by the Herald on Sunday if she thought women could make up 50 per cent of MSPs in next parliament, which would be convened after the 2026 election, she said: “That would be something. We would join a small band of parliaments across the globe that have achieved that gender balance.”

Pressed it she was hopeful that a gender balanced parliament could happen then, she added: “I absolutely think it could with the ongoing commitment of [political] parties. Wider society has a role to play.

"It is really important that we encourage everyone who wants to get involved in the democratic electoral process to be able to do so.

“We’ve seen real progress in here. It really has been heartening and I think we should never take that for granted. This is certainly not the final step. We elected women of colour to the parliament for the first time in 2021. We have our first permanent wheelchair user in the parliament. We don’t have a fully representative parliament yet so there is work to be done.”

The Parliament for All report made 34 recommendations including a ban on all-male committees, alongside quotas for key governing bodies and a new permanent proxy-voting scheme, in order to improve gender equality within the parliament.

Researchers found that since 1999 a total of five committees had had an all male membership, whereas no committee had been made up of just women. Currently, five out of 16 committee have just one woman member including three of the seven mandatory committees. 

The recommendations also include setting up a women’s forum open to all MSPs to offer a formal support network, as well as pushing political parties to examine their candidate selection processes to improve diversity.

They also suggest that consideration should be given whether to allow MSPs to be able to job share and whether the system of investigating complaints against MSPs should be changed.

Currently an initial complaint against an MSP is dealt with by the independent Ethical Standards Commissioner but the outcome of the inquiry is then submitted to MSPs on the standards committee for a final decision and to hand out any penalty.

The board suggested that MSPs should consider if the final decision on complaints and harassment of bullying against them should be taken out of their remit and referred to an independent panel.

Holyrood’s standards and procedures committee must now consider the recommendations which are also expected to be debated by the whole parliament.

Work on the gender report began in February last year with a cross party board set up to oversee the audit, which was carried out by Dr Fiona McKay, of Strathclyde University.

The audit also described women MSPs experiencing “everyday sexism” and of being spoken over and patronised during committees and in debates in the chamber.

It also reported that an increasingly adversarial tone in political discourse put off some women MSPs from participating in First Minister’s Questions while male MSPs’ interventions were more likely to be taken. The issue has led to plans to tighten up the MSPs’ code of conduct over sexism.

Was Ms Johnstone surprised that such sexism still existed in Holyrood?
“Where we are now is that there is increasing awareness of what is sexism,” she said.
“Previously it wasn’t something much discussed or debated and in undertaking this work a light is being shone on where we are and what we might do better.

“Obviously there has been research undertaken that suggests there are people experiencing this as part of their work and I would like to think that through the implementation of these measures and our ongoing discussion.

"We may have a debate in the chamber about the issues enclosed and this may help ensure that as we move forward this is something fewer and fewer people ever experience.”

Ms Johnstone has regularly stepped in to calm the tone of the debate especially at the weekly sessions at First Minister’s Questions. 

What did she think of the style of political exchanges?

“It’s really important to me that all members can optimally represent their constituents. Clearly people who find themselves here are passionate on a whole range of policies. I don’t expect it to be a silent chamber but I do expect it be respectful,” she said.

“It can be robust, it can be passionate, people can debate. They can whole heartedly disagree with one another but they also have to do that within the parameters. I do call for courteous and respectful behaviour and that it is required.”

The report recommends more systematic data – gathering on women’s participation in the chamber and at committees, and a review of sitting times to discover what can be done to reduce the length of sessions and limit unpredictability.

The final stage of the Gender Recognition Reform bill last December had some of the longest known sittings, with consideration of amendments lasting well past midnight.