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| Why are there so few women working behind the scenes in Scottish political life? Why are there so few women working behind the scenes in Scottish political life? | |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| With women leading three of the parties in the Scottish parliament, and a female first minister committed to legislating for gender balance, equality campaigners could be forgiven for taking their foot off the gas. | With women leading three of the parties in the Scottish parliament, and a female first minister committed to legislating for gender balance, equality campaigners could be forgiven for taking their foot off the gas. |
| But Women 50:50, Scotland’s campaign for equal representation in parliament, councils and public boards, has proved herself admirably unwilling to rest on her laurels, and on Wednesday evening held a revealing and energetic debate titled Backroom Boys, looking a why so few women hold powerful positions behind the scenes in Scotland’s political life. | But Women 50:50, Scotland’s campaign for equal representation in parliament, councils and public boards, has proved herself admirably unwilling to rest on her laurels, and on Wednesday evening held a revealing and energetic debate titled Backroom Boys, looking a why so few women hold powerful positions behind the scenes in Scotland’s political life. |
| Ahead of the debate, Women 50:50 released a set of figures highlighting the scale of the problem: | Ahead of the debate, Women 50:50 released a set of figures highlighting the scale of the problem: |
| Commenting on the figures, Talat Yaqoob, chair and co-founder of Women 5050, said: “Having women at every level of politics in Scotland is the only way we can ensure real representation and inclusiveness, but we need them beyond the chamber. The influencers behind the scenes are, in the main, men, we need women in these positions influencing policy and decision making”. | Commenting on the figures, Talat Yaqoob, chair and co-founder of Women 5050, said: “Having women at every level of politics in Scotland is the only way we can ensure real representation and inclusiveness, but we need them beyond the chamber. The influencers behind the scenes are, in the main, men, we need women in these positions influencing policy and decision making”. |
| The evening was chaired by Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale with a panel of speakers including writer, broadcaster and former newspaper editor Lesley Riddoch, Valerie Livingston, former SNP Westminster press officer turned political consultant and Natalie Coupar, former Scottish Liberal Democrat staffer, now comms manager. | The evening was chaired by Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale with a panel of speakers including writer, broadcaster and former newspaper editor Lesley Riddoch, Valerie Livingston, former SNP Westminster press officer turned political consultant and Natalie Coupar, former Scottish Liberal Democrat staffer, now comms manager. |
| Lesley Riddoch called on her experience of both print and broadcast journalism to ask what we want from spads, and why women are deemed not to measure up. Some - though not all - women remain unwilling to put their heads above the parapet when it comes to opinions, she suggested, perhaps because opinionated women tend to be treated differently to their male counterparts, not least in terms of online response. | Lesley Riddoch called on her experience of both print and broadcast journalism to ask what we want from spads, and why women are deemed not to measure up. Some - though not all - women remain unwilling to put their heads above the parapet when it comes to opinions, she suggested, perhaps because opinionated women tend to be treated differently to their male counterparts, not least in terms of online response. |
| But women are aware of the world outside the room, said Riddoch, and thus often attracted to activism rather than formal politics: so their experience is not valued, or else their areas of experience are not represented in formal politics. | But women are aware of the world outside the room, said Riddoch, and thus often attracted to activism rather than formal politics: so their experience is not valued, or else their areas of experience are not represented in formal politics. |
| Many of the women present nodded along when Riddoch also raised the obvious point that backroom jobs - be that political advisers or news editors - demand 24-7 attendance: “No human being wants to do that for long, and women are more prone to being human.” | Many of the women present nodded along when Riddoch also raised the obvious point that backroom jobs - be that political advisers or news editors - demand 24-7 attendance: “No human being wants to do that for long, and women are more prone to being human.” |
| Valerie Livingston, who walked away from the Westminster bubble to start her own business, with all the flexibility and autonomy that brings, recalled how little sense of career progression she had: “Undoubtedly politics can be very macho but a bigger problem is failure to develop staff.” | Valerie Livingston, who walked away from the Westminster bubble to start her own business, with all the flexibility and autonomy that brings, recalled how little sense of career progression she had: “Undoubtedly politics can be very macho but a bigger problem is failure to develop staff.” |
| This was echoed by Natalie Coupar who said that now she was working in the private sector, with appraisals and support structures and standard interviewing procedures to prevent bias, she’s amazed by how things were done in the world of politics, with no formalised processes for championing diversity and inclusion. | This was echoed by Natalie Coupar who said that now she was working in the private sector, with appraisals and support structures and standard interviewing procedures to prevent bias, she’s amazed by how things were done in the world of politics, with no formalised processes for championing diversity and inclusion. |
| Coupar added that she often found herself to be the only woman in the room, and noted that when she joined the Scottish Lib Dems there was only one female print journalist in the Holyrood press corridor (this has since increased to roughly a quarter, something that the newly formed Women in Journalism Scotland is also hoping to tackle). | Coupar added that she often found herself to be the only woman in the room, and noted that when she joined the Scottish Lib Dems there was only one female print journalist in the Holyrood press corridor (this has since increased to roughly a quarter, something that the newly formed Women in Journalism Scotland is also hoping to tackle). |
| Couper recalled “those moments when you’re in a meeting and you look up and go ‘wow, this is history and its also all men!” But she also emphasised the need to be hopeful: “the most most dangerous message to go out from tonight is that its too difficult.” | Couper recalled “those moments when you’re in a meeting and you look up and go ‘wow, this is history and its also all men!” But she also emphasised the need to be hopeful: “the most most dangerous message to go out from tonight is that its too difficult.” |
| Steering the conversation towards some practical conclusions, Dugdale first asked whether 50:50 in elected positions was still the right focus: “We need to get women behind the scenes too, is there too much focus on public-facing roles?” | Steering the conversation towards some practical conclusions, Dugdale first asked whether 50:50 in elected positions was still the right focus: “We need to get women behind the scenes too, is there too much focus on public-facing roles?” |
| Likewise, she and other women discussed the problem of “the pipeline”, ie how to make sure that women are ready to step up into those roles, and in particular how to make mentoring expansive enough to reach BME and working class women who are so appallingly represented at every level of politics. | Likewise, she and other women discussed the problem of “the pipeline”, ie how to make sure that women are ready to step up into those roles, and in particular how to make mentoring expansive enough to reach BME and working class women who are so appallingly represented at every level of politics. |
| Scottish Labour’s Lorna Finlayson asked whether women are pigeon-holed into organisational/diary roles rather than being promoted to strategic ones, whilst academic and blogger Meryl Kenny described how men’s informal networks can circumvent the formal equality work that women do, leading to calls for men to act as “allies not bystanders”. | Scottish Labour’s Lorna Finlayson asked whether women are pigeon-holed into organisational/diary roles rather than being promoted to strategic ones, whilst academic and blogger Meryl Kenny described how men’s informal networks can circumvent the formal equality work that women do, leading to calls for men to act as “allies not bystanders”. |
| The evening’s discussion, with a roomful of women including serving party staffer from across the Holyrood spectrum, drew out some fascinating threads and resulted - as is not often the case with such events - in an actual action plan. | The evening’s discussion, with a roomful of women including serving party staffer from across the Holyrood spectrum, drew out some fascinating threads and resulted - as is not often the case with such events - in an actual action plan. |