A family-friendly parliament? MSPs, including former party leaders, tell us why Holyrood has to change

Ruth Davidson has admitted she thought she “could have it all but sometimes you can’t”.

After a week that has seen another female MSP signal her intention to stand down from Parliament in part because of work/life balance pressures, Ms Davidson, the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, has told how she felt “guilty” when she came back to work, following the birth of her first son Finn in October 2018.

Indeed, when Ms Davidson announced she would stand down as leader in August 2019, she cited ‘conflict over Brexit’ and a desire to spend more time with her partner Jen and their young son as the principle reasons behind her decision.

The Conservative politician, who will also stand down as an MSP as the Holyrood election in 2021, has been frank in her struggle to juggle political life with the demands of a family.

It comes as SNP MSP Gail Ross revealed yesterday that family pressures in her decision to stand down at next year’s election. 

Ms Davidson said: “I was honest when I stood down that I was conflicted over Brexit.