Nicola Sturgeon’s ‘rage-bait’ comment about SNP women shows she’s no feminist

Her political career is peppered with statements carefully crafted to elicit a strong, often negative reaction, guaranteed to grab headlines and drive clicks. As First Minister, she railed against Westminster, describing Scotland as a “prisoner” of the Union. She also infamously described opponents of her ill-fated gender recognition reform bill as "deeply misogynist, often homophobic, possibly some of them racist as well”.

She was at it again only a few days ago, speaking not in the Holyrood chamber, where she still represents the people of Glasgow Southside, but in the setting where she seems most comfortable these days – talking about her memoir, Frankly.

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Green co-leader snubbed

During an interview at the St Andrew’s Book Festival, held in London’s Knightsbridge, the very heart of establishment Britain, Sturgeon offered up her opinion on women in politics and, as this newspaper exclusively revealed, she was up to her old tricks. Recalling the time, only a few years ago, when Scotland’s three largest pollical parties were led by women, she said she couldn’t be certain that a woman would once again lead a Scottish party “any time soon”.

She said: “The issue is that, if I’m honest, if I look round the Scottish Parliament right now, I can’t really say with any certainty that there will be another female leader any time soon.” Given that Sturgeon spends much of her time promoting her book rather than sitting through Portfolio Questions, perhaps it is not surprising that she has not noticed that the Scottish Greens, in government during her tenure as First Minister, have a new female co-leader, Gillian Mackay.

But while Mackay may be slightly irritated that Sturgeon does not consider her worthy of a namecheck, her erstwhile protégés must be raging that she dismissed their leadership chances with such ease.

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What about Gilruth and McAllan?

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth was, and perhaps still is, close to Sturgeon. Indeed, the Fife MSP’s wife, former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, was in the Knightsbridge audience. Gilruth has been tipped by many close to her as a future leader of the SNP, so her famous temper no doubt flared when she saw The Scotsman headline last weekend.

Mairi McAllan is another female SNP minister tipped for the top job. She may insist that she is not “even considering” a future leadership bid, but I am certain that when there is a vacancy, McAllan will be first in the queue. I can only hope she was not looking for an endorsement from Scotland’s first female First Minister, because it seems it won’t be forthcoming.

In fact, look around the Holyrood chamber and the MSPs doing the heavy lifting are mostly women. Independent Ash Regan is driving through a member’s bill to outlaw the buying of sex, which if passed will change society.

The Scottish Tories benefit greatly from a group of capable professional women who take their job as elected representatives very seriously, and Labour’s Jackie Baillie brings decades of experience, honed in the chamber and in her party’s back rooms. And if I were a betting woman, I would put a tenner on Kate Forbes being back in Holyrood by 2040, when she will only be 50.

Sturgeon’s dwindling band of supporters may argue that, far from rage-baiting, she was making an informed observation on the state of Scottish politics. That she was not passing judgment on the abilities of any individual woman but instead making a structural – indeed feminist – critique about the barriers women still encounter in pursuing a political career. Believe that, and I have a ferry to sell you.

Imagine if former First Ministers Humza Yousaf or Henry McLeish had made a similar assertion about women leaders. They would have been forced to make a grovelling apology and forever dubbed at best out-of-touch sexists, at worst out-and-out misogynists.

Sturgeon knew her statement was controversial and that it would make headlines. I’m convinced that is why she said it. She was, once again, drawing attention to herself, hoping to remind us all (and perhaps even herself) that she is still relevant.

The irony is, I would be very interested in Sturgeon’s considered views on how to get more women elected. I would like to know what she thinks of Engender’s report, published only a few weeks ago, which calls for more “positive action mechanisms” such as quotas.

Does she think there should be legislated candidate quotas, where political parties are forced to field a certain percentage of women? Does she believe there is enough practical support for women to allow them to combine motherhood with a political career?

How would she change the culture of politics, where rage-baiting is often celebrated as a skill, so that it is less combative? And how would she foster a sense of sisterhood and solidarity across political parties to strengthen the power and impact of women’s voices? I fear I am destined to be disappointed.

The former First Minister appears to be no more interested in pursuing political equity for other women than she is in fulfilling the promise she made the day she resigned, when she said she was going to champion the cause of care-experienced young people – “a national mission, so close to my heart”.

Instead, her priorities remain as they did when she was in charge: presentation and image trump action and delivery. It is all about Nicola.