Kaukab Stewart

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"It has taken too long but to all women and girls of colour out there - the Scottish Parliament belongs to you too.So whilst I may be the first I will not be the last” šŸ‘‘ 

I didn’t have time to do the local history post I wanted to do today so I thought I’d share some living Scottish history instead! Today the first woman of colour/first Muslim woman was elected to the Scottish Parliament. Kaukab Stewart, of the SNP, has run for election five times having been a campaigner for more than 20 years.

The 53-year-old teacher takes over the Glasgow Kelvin constituency seat from the party's Sandra White. She thanked voters, saying it was "an honour" to be the first woman of colour to become an MSP.

Giving her acceptance speech, Ms Stewart, who is also the first Muslim woman to be elected in Holyrood, said: "I intend to be a voice for every single person in Kelvin that I've been elected to represent. Whether you voted for me or not, please know my door will always be open."

Re-elected first minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was 'thrilled beyond words' to see Kaukab Stewart elected. Arriving at the Glasgow count, Nicola Sturgeon said she "could not be prouder" of Ms Stewart's result.

Ms Stewart said her victory had been a "long time coming...I can't believe we're in the day that we are and it hasn't happened. I do think it is a wee bit of a failure of all political parties. However I know the SNP and other parties are making a concerted effort to make sure we increase diversity in the Scottish Parliament and that it's more representative of the diverse Scotland that we live in." 

Earlier this year Ms Stewart told BBC Scotland's Disclosure programme of the difficulties in attempting to break down barriers while running for election, which she said can be entrenched.
She said: "We know that people will want to select somebody who is like them. I'm not like the majority of the population of Scotland, because I'm a different colour.
"Therefore, if people are looking for that familiarity, they're not visually going to get it from me." She stated that having a parliament which represents all of Scotland's diversity is essential.
She said: "It's important because it's a validation. It's a sense of belonging, that the people who make decisions about shaping policies are the people that live and work and breathe in Scotland." 

Prior to the 2021 election campaign, Holyrood has had a total of four MSPs from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities - all of them men of Scots-Pakistani heritage.
One of the four - @humzayousaf - said that a record of "no black MSP ever, no female BAME MSP ever" was "frankly a failure of all of us, regardless of party".
In February Labour's @anassarwarmsp became the first non-white leader of a major political party in the UK, and referenced "rising injustice, inequality and division" in Scotland.

Racism has been a hot topic during the Scottish election campaign: Derek Jackson was suspended from the Liberal Party after he arrived at the Glasgow count wearing a yellow star and making saluting gestures before questioning the SNP's Humza Yousaf about events in Pakistan.
Ms Stewart told the BBC she watched the scenes at home, citing racial abuse as one reason why women of colour may be put off getting involved in politics.
She said: "It's very disappointing to see however I was quite pleased to see they were dealt with quite assertively and quite quickly, and other political parties rallied round and made sure it was dealt with.
"There is no place for racism in this country and democratic procedures will prevail. People like myself, like Humza, like Anas and so many other candidates should be able to take part in this process." (Credit: @bbcnews )

The diversity of our community and the strong female leaders across all parties is one of thing that has always made me most proud to be Scottish, and I was really disappointed that it’s taken this long for a woman of colour to be elected (and for people of colour and Muslims in general to be adequately represented in positions of power). But better late than never, and I offer my heartfelt congrats to @kaukabstewartsnp on this historic achievement

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