Women and Scottish Politics

Abstract

The 1997 general election will be remembered as record-breaking in many respects. One of the features that attracted media headlines was the significant rise in the number of women MPs in the House of Commons, increasing from the 1992 figure of 60 to a total of 120. In Scotland, the number of women MPs rose from the five elected in 1992 to an all-time high of 12, a representation rate of just under 17 per cent. Nevertheless, in spite of the increase in women’s representation, there is still a long way to go before women have parity with men in terms of their participation in the House of Commons.