But when they enter the House of Commons as MPs for the first time on May 18, will they be able to walk out of the shadows of the male titans they’re replacing?
There is much speculation about whether Pamela Nash, 25 (Airdrie and Shotts), Gemma Doyle, 28 (West Dunbartonshire), and Eilidh Whiteford, 41 (Banff & Buchan) are destined forever to be compared to their doughty male predecessors John Reid, John McFall and Alex Salmond respectively. How will they manage to make their mark?
When parliament reconvenes, the House will already be a very different place after the departure of 154 MPs. Many of these, it is argued, were the kind of independent thinkers who make politics dynamic and interesting.
There are fears that the influx of young and inexperienced new MPs, “groomed” by their elders, could lead to a more compliant – and altogether duller – place to do business.
Ms Doyle had the advantage of being “endorsed” by her predecessor Mr McFall while doing pre-election constituency rounds. “They all said they were very sad to see him go, but I didn’t feel daunted by that,” she told The Herald.
“I made sure they knew I was standing for West Dunbartonshire and not for the Treasury Select Committee. John’s encouragement has undoubtedly helped me. We’re from opposite generations but I’d say the similarities between us are greater than the differences.”
Ms Nash, the youngest MP in the new House of Commons, disagrees that she will become a clone of her mentor John Reid. Although she has worked with him at Westminster since becoming his parliamentary researcher two years ago, she insists she will be a “completely different” MP.
She said: “I learned a lot from John over the last two years, and I am very grateful for that, but he would be the first to say that he has not been able to spend as much time in his constituency as he’d have liked,” she said.
Social networking, she said, is one of the tools that younger politicians are using to connect with the people who voted for them.
“Politicians who use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will bring a new energy to Parliament,” she said.
“It will learn through them how to reach to a younger generation. Social networking is great because you can bring what they’re saying straight into Parliament. But while they’re useful tools, you still have to put the hard graft in. You have to see your constituents face to face.”
At Westminster she fully expects to be given advice from all quarters but is adamant that she will make up her own mind. “I’m very determined when I want to be,” she said.
Jo Swinson, the LibDem MP for East Dunbartonshire, was also 25 and the youngest MP at Westminster after the last General Election. She believes the new women MPs can collectively make changes.
“There are lots of different ways to be a politician, and the new girls will develop their own style,” she said. “Some will be quite confrontational and aggressive but there are different approaches and women tend to be more consensual. Nobody wants an army of clones. The public is crying out for change anyway.”
It is a view is shared by Ms Whiteford, who has a PhD in English and Scottish literature and has worked for a large part of her life in the voluntary sector. She said: “I
am certainly not a clone of Alex Salmond, though I first met him when I was a student in 1987.”
“I have a different set of skills and a different personality. Unlike the other new MPs I am not a career politician, and I haven’t spent much time in Westminster. I think this is a very exciting time for British politics, but that too often people in civil society feel remote from the political process. I believe actions speak louder than words.”
Even so, young women learning the ropes from their political elders is nothing to be ashamed of, said Margo MacDonald MSP, who was MP for Govan in the early 1970s and enjoyed the tutelage of her mentor Willie Ross.
“There is much to be said for being taken under the wing of someone who’s respected in the House,” she said.
“Old-fashioned political apprenticeships are like a teacher-pupil, uncle-niece relationship, and if she’s fly the woman will realise what valuable experience he has and will learn what she can from him. She should not be too proud for that.
“In the end, politics is about using judgment and sensitivity in your dealings with other people. True worth will eventually come out. If you haven’t got it, it will be seen that you haven’t got it.”
