Blog

How diverse is Scotland’s new parliament?

The Scottish parliament elections took place on 7 May, 2026. Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, Angus Robertson, lost his seat and therefore his role as Cabinet Secretary. A new politician will be appointed to a culture remit in the coming days.

While we wait for this appointment, and for other parties to confirm their culture spokespeople, we take a look at overall diversity within the new parliament: 

• 6 constituencies had all-male lists, therefore there was no option to vote for a woman or gender diverse person in those areas
• The number of female MSPs has reduced from 58 to 56
• The first transgender and non-binary MSPs have been elected
• The number of Black and Global Majority MSPs has increased by 1, bringing the total to 7 MSPs 
• Currently, 5 elected MSPs are reported to be disabled

It is disappointing to see that women account for less than 50% of MSPs, and stark to see how low the numbers of gender diverse, Black and Global Majority and disabled MSPs are.

Meaningful long-term change starts with visibility, and the lack of representation in our new parliament means that we once again need to advocate for women and gender diverse people, especially those most marginalised in the majority male, white and able-bodied cohort of new MSPs.

We recommend exploring the work of our sister project at Engender, Equal Representation in Politics, about what actions we can take to support women in politics.