Important Scottish parliament elections are scheduled for May 2021 and the expectation (based on latest polling) has been that the SNP will emerge as the biggest party, possibly even with a majority. Independence has been predicted to be the biggest issue, but how important will women's sex-based rights be? It's certainly a big deal for women in Scotland, and it’s getting bigger by the day!

Thanks principally to Nicola Sturgeon, many women now feel totally betrayed by the SNP. So who will step-in, and give these politically homeless women a home?

We already knew that the SNP had been fully captured by the ‘woke', but Nicola Sturgeon has this week added fuel to the fire and further enraged women in Scotland with her video on “transphobia”. The video was published in response to reports that: “mainly young people” were leaving the SNP following amendments to the Hate Crime and Public Order Bill that would allow, reasonably you might think, for at least some discussion or criticism of matters relating to “transgender identity”:

In the video Ms Sturgeon, true to form, panders to gender ideology activists and completely neglects to recognise the genuine concerns of women. She gets a predictable response from women in Scotland: cries of “rampant misogyny” abound on social media. 

Surely now, one would think, the Scottish Tories will put women's sex-based rights as a headline policy? 

In the broader context, the Tories must see that the legal challenge from a grassroots group (@forwomen.scot) to the redefinition of the word "woman" in the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018 is a very significant political development. The legal challenge presents an opportunity for a political party to distinguish itself by giving unambiguous support to that challenge. In the current climate, where women are ignored and under attack, women’s sex-based rights must surely be seen as a moral duty as well as a popular and vote-winning strategy.

There is another factor too. Now that Michelle Ballantyne has taken on the leadership of Reform UK in Scotland, it will be interesting to see what their policies are in respect of women. Reform UK is currently completely silent on the matter of women’s rights in its published policies, but this must surely change because the issue is one that cuts to the very heart of the 'woke' agenda that Nigel Farage and Reform UK members want to address. A full-out assault on the SNP's anti-women agenda by Reform UK would be a vote-winning strategy, notwithstanding Reform UK's pro-Union stance.

The question is: will the Scottish Tories decide to put women's sex-based rights as a headline policy alongside the Union, or will Reform UK alone be left to mop-up the votes of the politically homeless women of Scotland?

The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party should remember that women vote; they should also remember what Nigel Farage is capable of (see Brexit for details). Reform UK in Scotland needs something to really distinguish itself from the Tories; women’s sex-based rights could be it.

We must turn the tide and re-establish the right of every woman in this country to enjoy the dignity, privacy, safety and well-being afforded by sex-based rights and protections. A major political force that attaches itself unambiguously to this cause in Scotland may well be favourably surprised at the ballot box in May.

I hope and trust that the Scottish Conservatives will be that party.