25 Years of the Scottish Parliament – where are the young women?

Women represent 52% of the Scottish population but only 46% of MSPs. The democratic deficit is obvious and the calls for political change include the Presiding Officer, whose audit into how women are represented in the Parliament kickstarted a series of initiatives to address the issue.

Join the panel to discuss what needs to be done in the next 25 years to break down barriers to political participation and increase representation.

Chair: Gillian Mackay MSP, Member, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Panellists:

Professor Meryl Kenny is professor of gender and politics at the University of Edinburgh and a member of the Scottish Parliament's Gender Sensitive Advisory Group. She has published widely in the areas of gender and political parties, political representation, Scottish and British politics, and institutional change.

Grace McCabe is a member of Young Women’s Movement. She been a member of the YWM Advisory Collective for 2 years and loves the fact it offers a space to have conversations with like-minded young women who want to build a better Scotland. Grace believes that young women are experts in their own lives and deserve to be represented in every place that decisions are being made which affect them.

Cllr Kayleigh O’Neill was elected the first Green Party councillor for Forth ward in the 2022 Council Elections for the City of Edinburgh Council. Kayleigh sits on the Disabled Greens representative group committee. In 2023, she was appointed to COSLA’s Barriers to Elected Office special interest group. Kayleigh is the group’s Equalities spokesperson and currently sits on the council’s Education, Children and Families committee, Planning committee – including Development Management Sub-Committee and Local Review Body.

Ellie Craig MSYP has been a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament representing Glasgow Cathcart since 2019, and she is currently a member of the SYP Board of Trustees. She is a student at the University of Glasgow, studying MA(SocSci) Politics and Sociology, and works as a part-time youth worker.