The proportion of women candidates standing in Scotland at the general election has fallen slightly, down one point to 27%, despite an increase in the overall number of women standing for election.
After a number of late changes, the final lists of candidates for the six main parties – the Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dem, Scottish Greens, Scottish National party and UK Independence party, shows there are 308 candidates overall with 82 women now standing – the highest in numeric terms.
Just before international women’s day, before the final candidates lists were confirmed, the BBC and two academics who specialise in diversity in politics calculated the male to female ratio of 29% and 28% - the same figure the Guardian arrived at in March.
This Scottish ratio is better than the overall UK male to female ratio, where just 16% of all the 2,944 candidates standing, from all parties and none, are women. Even so, a new Guardian projection based on current polling suggests the number of women MPs elected next week could rise by 25% over the 2010 figure to 198.
But the ratio for a couple of the main UK parties in Scotland is weaker than their overall figure.
While 27% of Scottish Labours candidates are female, it is at 34% at UK level for Labour, and for the Tories its 15% in Scotland against 26% UK wide. The Lib Dems is pretty much the same: 26% at UK level and 27% in Scotland. Labour’s ability to increase the number of women candidates is hampered by the large number of male MPs standing for reelection in Scotland.
The overall male to female ratio for the six main parties in Scotland fell after the UK Independence party’s candidates list became clear after the close of nominations, leading to an increase in the overall number of male candidates from 224 to 226 compared to the Guardian’s first diversity survey in March.
Ukip had repeatedly ignored requests from the Guardian for a list of its general election candidates, leading to gaps in the original survey. Ukip now appears to be standing in 41 of Scotland’s 59 Westminster seats.
The proportion of black and minority ethnic candidates standing remains static at 3% with nine non-white candidates on the ballot paper, but only because the Eurosceptic party is putting up one BME candidate, Wilfred Arasaratnam in Dunbartonshire East, and the Lib Dems have a second, Aisha Mir in Midlothian.
But there is confusion over whether there are nine active BME candidates – a 3% ratio overall compared to Scotland’s overall BME ratio of 4%, after Labour deselected one of its three non-white candidates last week.
Sumon Hoque, its candidate in Banff & Buchan in north east Scotland, was suspended by Labour after he appeared in court charged with drink driving, driving a car without an MoT and without a licence.
While Hoque is no longer a Labour candidate in reality - the party has withdrawn all support and funding for him, technically his name cannot be taken off the ballot paper after the final nomination date, so legally he is still standing for Labour in Banff & Buchan.
Nevertheless, as it stands, only two BME candidates have a good prospect of being elected on 7 May - Anas Sarwar for Labour in Glasgow Central and Tasmina Ahmed- Sheikh in Ochil & South Perthshire.
