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Has Devolution Delivered for Women?
Significant new measures needed if improvements in women's representation in the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are to be sustained
The new report Has Devolution Delivered for Women? concludes that the battle for fair and equal representation of women is far from won and urgent new action is needed if the progress made in Edinburgh and Cardiff over the last decade is to be sustained in the next one. It explores the progress that has been made in improving the levels of
female representation in the devolved legislatures over the last 10 years, analyses how this happened and what obstacles now threaten that progress. it also examines the impact that women have had on the culture of politics in Scotland and Wales and the policy commitments that have been secured as a result of their leadership.
Key findings include:
- Voluntary action by the political parties is not enough to maintain the high levels of women's representation in Scotland and Wales
- A new ‘King Report' (along the lines of Sir Anthony King's Report on the BBC's coverage of the devolved institutions) on gender and the media in politics is needed.
- There has been a change in culture towards a ‘new politics' in Edinburgh and Cardiff in terms of less confrontational and less party-bound ways of working. But there is a growing perception that Holyrood is reverting back to an increasingly Westminster style of confrontational politics and the debate about how to redress this needs to be reopened.
- The dramatic increase in women's representation at the dawn of devolution was achieved through strong, well-organised campaigning across a range of parties and organisations. The time has come to start rebuilding these alliances within Scotland and Wales, across the UK and internationally.
Read a full write up and download the report here.
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