Has Devolution Delivered for Women? - August 13, 2009
Hansard Society/British Council debate at Festival of Politics
Thursday August 20, 2.30pm - 4pm
Committee Room 1, Scottish Parliament
Journalists are invited to attend a unique event at the Festival of Politics next week - Has Devolution Delivered for Women? Participation, Representation & Power looks at women's representation in the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales.
Chair:
- Joyce McMillan (The Scotsman & Chair, Hansard Society Scotland Working Group)
Panel:
- Professor Alice Brown (Former Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)
- Rosemary Butler AM (Deputy Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales)
- Johann Lamont MSP (Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party)
- Professor Laura McAllister (Professor of Governance, University of Liverpool & Independent Adviser to the Parliamentary Services Board of the National Assembly for Wales)
At the 2007 election the number of female MSPs dropped for the first time since devolution - women now occupy just 33% of the seats in the Scottish Parliament. In contrast, women secured 46% of the seats in the National Assembly for Wales. The debate will ask:
- Was the 2007 result in Scotland just a temporary setback?
- Has devolution delivered for women in terms of improved participation, representation and power?
- What further improvements are needed to develop the equality agenda in the future?
For further information, contact Emma Megaughin on 0131 243 2750 or hansard.scotland@hansard.lse.ac.uk
or Virginia Gibbons on 0207 438 1225 or 07812 765 552 or mediaprog@hansard.lse.ac.uk
Editors' Notes
- Hansard Society Scotland provides a new independent and non-partisan platform in Scotland to consider issues relating to the Scottish Parliament and the implications and lessons for other parts of UK parliamentary democracy.
- You can follow the Has Devolution Delivered for Women? Participation, Representation & Power debate at www.twitter.com/hansardsociety
- Has Devolution Delivered for Women? Participation, Representation & Power will be recorded and the audio will be available at a later date on the Hansard Society website - http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/