Blog: Who holds the seats of power?

Blog by Susan Murray, David Hume Institute

March 2021

The last few weeks have seen a flood of headlines from around the world about antiquated British views.  It doesn’t matter what you personally think of Meghan Markle or the monarchy, for many international observers this affects their perception of the UK as a progressive, fair and diverse country.

This matters.  Our global reputation has a direct impact on vital parts of our economy, particularly trade and tourism.  And, at a time when the economy is facing the biggest recession on record, we should all be worrying about diversity.

Diversity matters, not only for our economy, but for the strength of our decision making. 

Last year, our Team Scotland research investigated diversity in the top leaders in Scotland; and power featured consistently in our latest research, What’s your action?.  Who has it, who needs it and who needs to cede it, in order for more, and faster, progress to be made?

As we move on from another outpouring of vocal support for equality and diversity after  International Women’s Day, some will be sticking their heads firmly in the sand for another year on the antiquated tradition of primogeniture for the House of Lords. While it’s good news that No.10 is now looking at this issue, its proposals – and that’s all they are at this stage – come ten years after the monarchy embraced equal rights before the birth of Prince George.

Today, there are 92 men in the House of Lords because of hereditary titles. Eleven of these are resident in Scotland. Women cannot hold these seats when families still operate primogeniture for titles.

The debate has been deflected to encourage more women into non-hereditary seats but this ignores the core issue of men gaining significant position of power based on their gender.  Currently there are 223 female peers in total – 28% of the Members of the House of Lords.

The House of Lords has increased significantly in size since the turn of the millennium taking the overall size of the Lords to over 800 members - well above the 600-member cap, and larger than the House of Commons' 650 elected members.

Although hereditary Lords now have less influence than they used to, with one eighth of the chamber reserved for them, they still have influence.  

This interview with Charlotte Carew Pole who founded the campaign Daughter’s Rights unpicks the inequality at the heart of this issue. 

The David Hume Institute listened to over 4,500 people across Scotland.  All of them wanted their voices to be heard.  Power came up again and again in the research, What’s your action? - who has it, who needs it and who needs to cede it, in order for more progress to be made?

Primogeniture is a clear example of structural inequality that needs to be urgently addressed.  The UK cannot class itself as a modern country while this historic male preference continues. Brexit means constitutional changes are back on the table. Weeding out structural inequality should be the first item on the agenda.

If the UK wants to avoid being seen as an antiquated northern backwater, we need to embrace the full benefits of gender diversity or the economy, and society, will suffer.