It feels like Holyrood men have   decided the girls have had their go and now it’s bloke time again

YOU may have noticed, but politics in Scotland has become a bit blokey again.

We have John Swinney, Russell Findlay, Anas Sarwar and Alex Cole-Hamilton as Holyrood leaders. Down south, there’s Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.

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And last week the SNP’s footie-lad-in-chief — Stephen Flynn — made his next move in his play to become party leader and, possibly, First Minister.

It’s not so long ago that Theresa May was PM while the leaders of Scotland’s main parties were all women — with Nicola Sturgeon, Ruth Davidson and Kezia Dugdale simultaneously at the helm of the SNP, Scottish Tories and Scottish Labour.

This female-dominated line- up made the Scottish Lib Dems’ then-boss Willie Rennie look like a bit of a dinosaur — even if a T-Rex is one of the few things Silly Willie didn’t dress up as for a daft photo-op.

Ahead of Sturgeon, Davidson and Dugdale at Holyrood were other women trailblazers, of course.

But those years between 2015 and 2017 when all three were in charge meant Scotland stood out. The dominance of grey men in grey suits seemed to be fading.

This wasn’t just refreshing — it was clearly more significant than that.

At the time, as a new-ish dad to a daughter, I admit I’d belatedly started to pay more attention to the importance of female role models.

The presence of these leaders at least gave the impression of progress towards a norm with women at the forefront of political leadership.

Questions are often posed about whether this could foster a less aggressive, more consensual, more compassionate, and perhaps ‘better’ politics.

To pontificate about a generic “woman leader” is to stray into dangerous territory, especially for a man.

Much comes down to the individual, and institutional constraints.

But I have no hesitation about saying that men in politics can act like cavemen, and like to club the hell out of each other.

And it does feel now like the men at Holyrood have decided the girls have had their go, and it’s bloke time again.

Dugdale, Davidson and Sturgeon all fell by the wayside, one by one, in the years since 2017, and were replaced by men who did worse jobs.

There was also the burn-the-witch hysteria surrounding MSP Kate Forbes’s two bids to become SNP leader, where she was rounded on by supposed equality crusaders.

In defence of Humza Yousaf — one of those inferior Sturgeon successors — he did seek to put tackling the behaviour of young males towards girls to the fore.

But we’re left with a male-dominated line-up — not the best look, especially after the apparent progress.

The next big shift in leadership positions is set to be the 2026 Holyrood election.

It seems either Swinney or Sarwar will emerge as First Minister.

Then there’s Stephen Flynn. It’s no secret he fancies himself as Swinney’s successor.

Last week he revealed he was going to try to elbow out SNP MSP Audrey Nicoll to get her seat, sparking understandable anger from female MSPs among others.

Flynn is a curious character who, unwittingly or otherwise, has crafted a persona as a beer-supping Tartan Army footsoldier, wind-up merchant, and smart-arse lad.

One social media post in summer saw him pretending to cry about England losing to Spain in the Euros.

How statesman-like (ok, ok — my view is almost certainly coloured by my English roots . . .  and there’s nothing wrong with being a beer-supping footie fan, in the right circumstances).

Mr Flynn is a sharp-witted politician, and by various accounts a deeper thinker than some of his daft laddie antics may suggest.

But his power play may signal more trouble for the SNP.

It is not just that he’s variously been described as arrogant and entitled for bidding to double-job as an MP and MSP, and oust a woman.

Joanna Cherry KC, who was blocked from standing for Holyrood in 2021 while continuing as an MP, had this to say: “Anyone doubting the deep rooted problem of misogyny in the current SNP should contrast the assistance given to a man seen as having leadership ambitions with the obstacles thrown in the path of a woman suspected of having the same.”

Ms Cherry’s qualms with the SNP and misogyny are of course wrapped up in more than candidate selections, and might as easily refer to the aggressive male trans self-ID activists.

But to have a prominent female take a stand like this may be enough to make a portion of women think twice — or ‘no chance’ — about voting SNP.

The SNP’s success has rested on bringing together a fragile coalition of voters and tackling a ‘women problem’.

In 2009, Edinburgh University academics Fiona Mackay and Meryl Kenny said there was evidence “female voters still regard the SNP as a macho party”. The years that followed changed that.

Polling indicated 52 per cent of women voted SNP at the 2021 Holyrood election before Sturgeon’s fall.

The SNP vote collapsed across the board at the 2024 election, with men and women jumping ship.

If broadening their appeal again is a priority, the SNP might want to consider one in two voters are female, and they should avoid publicly shoving women out of jobs — out of decency, not just due to arithmetic.

Because for the SNP, the road back to mass popularity will be made far harder if they are seen to be returning to those ‘macho’ days.