Scottish Parliament to Reinstate Gender Search Feature
The Scottish Parliament will reinstate the capability to search for Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) by gender on its official website after conducting a diversity survey.
Members have been requested to disclose their sex and transgender status in accordance with the statutory code of practice established by the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission.
With members' consent, this information will be published online, enabling the public to filter searches for representatives by gender.
This decision follows the removal of the gender search function from the website after the 2026 Holyrood election, which was part of an ongoing review process.
The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) emphasized its commitment to managing diversity information with care and sensitivity, ensuring it is presented both accurately and transparently.
Concerns had been raised by some MSPs about the removal of the search filter, with fears that women were being "erased" from the website after the feature was disabled last month.
Notably, two Scottish Green MSPs, Iris Duane and Q Manivannan, became the first openly transgender members at Holyrood following the May election. Manivannan also identifies as non-binary.
Survey Details and Process
The survey was distributed to all MSPs by Lorna Hunter, the Parliament's director of people, communications and inclusion, with a deadline set for Friday, 5 June.
The survey states that the public has a "legitimate interest" in understanding the "sex and, where appropriate, trans status" of elected representatives.
"Following the election, some information was made available online before it had been confirmed directly by individual MSPs. Once identified, it was removed from the Parliament's website.
To address this, an additional confirmation step has been introduced for the current parliamentary session to ensure relevant diversity information is confirmed directly with individual MSPs before use."
MSPs will be asked whether they "consider themselves to be trans," which is defined as "people whose gender is not the same as the sex they were registered at birth." They are also asked to specify their trans status, with examples provided such as "non-binary, trans man, trans woman."
The survey further requests consent from members to "process the data" for publication on the Scottish Parliament website and for retention within its internal systems.
Members have the option to withhold consent for their sex or trans status to be published online. In such cases, their information will be recorded as "undisclosed."
Purpose and Impact of Data Publication
The survey explains that publishing this data assists constituents in identifying which representatives they wish to consult.
"More generally, it also assists the public to understand the representative make up of their parliament,"
the survey adds.
The SPCB indicated that collecting this data will aid in conducting a "gender sensitive audit." A previous audit was conducted between February 2022 and May 2026, focusing on the representation and participation of women within the Parliament.
