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Equalities campaigners predict number of women elected to Holyrood and Welsh assembly on 5 May will be the lowest on record Leading political reform campaigners have demanded tough action to improve equality in Britain’s devolved parliaments after a steep decline in the number of women candidates in the Welsh and Scottish elections. Equalities campaigners predict that the number of women elected to Holyrood and the Welsh assembly on 5 May will be the lowest on record, after an investigation by the Guardian found less than 30% of the major parties’ candidates will be women. Dr Ruth Fox, director of parliament and government at the Hansard Society , said these figures strengthened the case for new measures to force parties to introduce equal representation, such as women-only shortlists or “gender balancing” in seats and regional lists, in both Edinburgh and Cardiff. “They’ve both held themselves up as beacons around the world on women’s representation, but since 2003 that has been in decline,” she said. Equal representation had been one of the “big energising factors” that led to their foundation in 1999. “In a sense, the parties are betraying these principles, the principle of a new form of politics, a new culture,” she said. Nan Sloan, director of the Centre for Women and Democracy , said the decline was regrettable. “If we want to change the gender balance in legislatures it takes a sustained effort from all parties for a long time,” she said. “There should be compulsory mechanisms to ensure that all political parties play their part in making sure that women are properly represented.” Katie Ghose, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society , said: “This research shows that if you take your eye off the ball for one minute, you see this bitterly disappointing trend. You just can’t rest on your laurels: It’s sad to see parties sit back. It was leaps ahead and now we’ve put ourselves back by decades.” In 2003, Wales became the first legislature in the world to have an equal number of men and women assembly members (AMs), with 30 out of its 60 AMs female. But the figures then declined: in 2007, there were 28 women elected. With election campaigning now started for both legislatures, the number of women candidates for the main five parties in Wales this year stands at 29.9% of the 261 candidates so far declared. The Institute of Welsh Affairs predicts the number of women AMs will fall close to 30% this year. “This is perilously close to the critical mass of female membership generally regarded as needed in organisations to ensure that their culture is reasonably feminised,” said Kirsty Davies, its deputy director. Both legislatures use a form of proportional representation in which a majority of seats are constituency seats, elected using first past the post. The rest are from regional lists using proportional representation. In Wales, 40 of the 60 assembly seats are from constituencies; in Scotland, 73 of the 129 seats are from constituencies. In both places, 75% of constituency candidates are men. The Tories and Liberal Democrats refuse to have positive action policies and insist their candidates are selected on merit regardless of gender or ethnicity. Plaid Cymru reserves top places on its regional lists for women and also uses “zipping” on its regional lists, so women and men alternate to create “gender balanced” lists; the Scottish National party has no similar policy. Labour has one of the strongest records on getting women elected to both legislatures but has watered down its positive action policies. It has no positive action in constituencies but uses zipping on its regional lists. In most regions, the top list place is taken by a woman or ethnic minority candidate. The Greens have similar policies. In Scotland, five women Labour MSPs who held constituency seats have stood down, including its former leader, Wendy Alexander, and all have been replaced by men. This will have a significant impact on the number of women Labour MSPs elected on 5 May. This year, after 51 women were among the 129 MSPs elected in 2003, and 43 in 2007, only 28% of Holyrood candidates are women. The Hansard Society and Centre for Women and Democracy predict this will mean even fewer female MSPs elected. An analysis of all 835 candidates for the five main parties by the Guardian has also found the parties are failing to ensure that Britain’s ethnic minorities are properly represented, although the rates of representation are slowly improving. There are only 21 non-white candidates, although some parties, such as the Welsh Tories have yet to announce their full candidate lists. In Scotland, where about 4% of the 5.2 million population are from ethnic minorities, there are 17 ethnic minority candidates standing, 2.86% of the total. Only one is a woman. And of those 17 only one, a Muslim Scottish National party candidate in Glasgow, Humza Yousaf, is very likely to be elected. In Wales, where 3% of the 3 million population are from ethnic minorities, only 1.7% of candidates so far declared are non-white. Of those, three are women, but only one or two of all the five ethnic minority candidates are likely to win seats. There are several candidates in Scotland with disabilities, including Mike Pringle from the Liberal Democrats, Dennis Robertson, a blind SNP candidate in West Aberdeenshire, and a Labour candidate on the Central Scotland list, Siobhan McMahon, who is disabled. Chris Oswald, head of policy and parliamentary affairs at the Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland , said: “A parliament which reflects the demography of the nation it represents will result in better legislation and a higher degree of public confidence in the democratic process. We would be concerned if the Scottish election results in a parliament which is less diverse than it was in 1999, 2003 or 2007.” Scottish politics Scotland Welsh politics Wales Women Women in politics Gender Severin Carrell guardian.co.uk