Girl Power! Scotswomen are set to dominate politics

Scotland will lead the world in political equality if Sturgeon takes reins.

Scotland is set to become the first country in the world where all of its main political party leaders are women.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will this week confirm she will seek to become the next Nationalist leader and First Minister after Alex Salmond’s shock resignation. Virtually guaranteed the top job, it will mean she’ll join Labour leader Johann Lamont and Tory leader Ruth Davidson as the three most powerful politicians in Scotland.

The move would be a historic first as the only country which comes close is Bangladesh where two out of the three main leaders are women.

Hugh McLachlan, a philosophy professor at Glasgow Caledonian University and an expert on equality, said: “This is clearly welcome and a real feather in Scotland’s cap that we are the only country with the three main political parties led by women.

“It tells us Scotland is a more equal society than it has ever been before.

“What makes this more welcome is the fact that we have arrived here organically. There have been no moves to engineer these women to the top purely because of their gender.

“They have arrived at the top of the political tree under their own steam.”

Alex Salmond shocked Scottish politics last week by announcing his plan to step down as First Minister following the Yes camp’s defeat in the referendum. Salmond will stay on until a new leader is appointed at the SNP conference in November.

His deputy for the last 10 years Nicola Sturgeon is red hot favourite to take over the reins. However, The Sunday Post understands senior figures in the party are keen for there to be a leadership race and talks with rival candidates got underway this weekend.

One SNP insider said: “We all know Nicola will be the next leader but there are some who feel there should be some sort of challenge to give her appointment a bit more credibility.”

The bookies have made Miss Sturgeon the overall favourite to be next leader with odds of 1/4, followed by Health Secretary Alex Neil on 8/1 and Local Government minister Derek Mackay on 10/1. Roseanna Cunningham, who stood against Miss Sturgeon in 2004, yesterday ruled herself out of standing for the position.

A spokesman for Ms Cunningham, the community safety minister in the Scottish Government, said: “There are talented individuals who can fill those roles and she looks forward to working with them to continue to advance the cause of Scotland, the SNP and independence.”

A headache for Miss Sturgeon’s team is who will run as her deputy. Both External Affairs minister Humza Yousaf and Mackay would make the most sense, according to insiders, as both are seen as future leadership material.

But the SNP ministers represent Glasgow and Paisley respectively, very close to Miss Sturgeon’s Glasgow Southside constituency. Some within the party feel that somebody from the SNP’s traditional heartlands, such as the North East, might be more suitable.

Whoever takes over from Mr Salmond will find the party in rude health despite the referendum loss.

Figures released by the SNP yesterday show that nearly 5,000 people have applied for membership of the party since last Thursday, taking the total to 30,846.

Meanwhile, a post mortem on Scottish Labour’s performance in the referendum is underway with a string of the party’s MSPs and MPs privately calling for leader Miss Lamont to go.

The Sunday Post has spoken to a number of Labour politicians in the last three days who have all privately said it was time for a different direction for the party in Scotland.

One said: “She can’t lose Glasgow and expect to stay on. It might be into October but needs to be soon so there’s no leadership contest too close to the General Election.”

Another added: “Johann took the job because nobody else wanted it, which we should be grateful for. Now we need to get our act together, especially if they [the SNP] have got Sturgeon coming in.”

Labour failed to persuade tens of thousands of its supporters in the party’s traditional heartlands to back the Better Together campaign and vote No.

Yes Scotland won in Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire and Dundee.

In Miss Lamont’s own seat of Glasgow Pollok, 53.9% of voters backed independence.

And across the country, a poll published by Lord Ashcroft, suggested that 37% of Scots who voted for Labour in the 2011 Holyrood election voted Yes.

If Miss Lamont does go, among those tipped for the top job are Jenny Marra and Kezia Dugdale. However, some in Labour want a Westminster MP, such as Jim Murphy, to take a Holyrood seat and lead the party.

Labour MP Douglas Alexander said: “If there is one sentiment which ran across the referendum campaign it was a hunger for change, and it was a disdain for politics and politicians. We need to deal with both the alienation that voters feel towards politicians and answer the questions on how our policies can improve people’s lives. That will be the work we now commit ourselves to.”

Should Nicola Sturgeon be elected Scotland’s next First Minister she will join a growing list of countries headed up by women.

GERMANY: Angela Merkel was recently named the most important female politician in the world by America’s iconic Forbes magazine. Her Christian Democratic party currently hold off opposition headed up by Sigmar Gabriel (Social Democratic Party) and emerging female politician Katja Kipping of Die Linke party.

BANGLADESH: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the Awani League has fought a long fierce political battle with another matriarch of the Bangladesh political scene K haleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party for decades. The third force in the Asian country is the Socialist Party headed up by a male voice, Comrade Khalequzzamen.

DENMARK: Selfie Queen Helle Thorning-Schmidt made headlines around the world when she was caught taking pictures of herself with David Cameron and President Obama at Nelson Mandela’s memorial.

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has been in power for over four years, fending off the People’s National Movement led by Keith Rowley.

JAMAICA: In nearby Jamaica, Portia Simpson-Millar’s People’s National Party regained power in 2012.

NORWAY: Out of the three main political forces in Norway, two are headed up by women including PM Erna Solberg and the Progress Party’s Siv Jensen.

LATVIA: Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma holds the keys to power. In opposition are two men Nils Usakovs and Valdis Zatler.

POLAND: Tomorrow Ewa Kopacz will start her new job as Poland’s PM and second female PM after Donald Tusk resigned to become President of the European Council. She will face a tough next election against two formidable men PiS’s Jaroslaw Kaczymski and TR’s Janusz Pallikot.