Scotland's latest batch of MPs are two-and-a-half times as likely to be privately educated as the people they represent.

New analysis for this newspaper shows six of the nation’s 59 seats fell to candidates who attended fee-paying schools, up from five in 2017 and four in 2015.

The Scottish trend is the opposite of what is happening in England and Wales, where independently educated MPs are losing ground.

However, those campaigning for Westminster to become more representative of the electorate say Scotland still does better than the rest of the UK for delivering a “strong pipeline of state-educated politicians”.

Some 10 per cent of Scottish MPs went to private schools, according to The Herald research.

That compares with an overall figure for the House of Commons of 29% which was calculated by the Sutton Trust, an educational equality charity.

James Turner, its chief executive, said: “The December election may have led to several new faces among Scotland’s representatives in Westminster, but their educational backgrounds remain relatively unchanged.

“While there is a small rise in the number of MPs educated at independent schools, Scottish MPs are only slightly more likely to have been to fee-paying schools than the general population.

“Scottish MPs are much more representative of the electorate than MPs from the other nations, who are four times as likely to have been to an independent school than their constituents.

“Talented people from all backgrounds should have the opportunity to become MPs, and so it is important that Scotland continues to build a strong pipeline of state-educated politicians.”

Just over 4% of Scottish children go to fee-paying schools, according to the latest educational census.

The Scottish cohort at Westminster is more “comprehensive” than their equivalents at Holyrood, where 20% are privately educated, a figure that has also risen over the years of devolution.

The Herald has the schooling details of 58 out of Scotland’s 59 MPs. One politician, Peter Grant of the SNP, declined to reveal details of his education, saying they were “not relevant”.

MPs who spent at least some of their teenage years at a private secondary include Tory Alister Jack, the Scottish Secretary, who went to Glenalmond in Perthshire, and Liberal Democrat Jamie Stone, who spent some years at Gordonstoun, the Moray school attended by Prince Charles.

At Westminster, the SNP is the party with the lowest proportion of privately educated MPs, less than 9% per cent, according to Herald numbers.

The Sutton Trust – which has educational backgrounds for more than 600 MPs – put figures at 14% for Labour and 41% for the Tories.

The Conservatives have changed in recent years. This election saw comprehensively-educated candidates take northern English seats.

In Scotland there has been a similar pattern: only two of the 12 Tory incumbents were privately educated.

One of those lost his seat in December. In fact, it was two SNP victories against the Tories that pushed up the privately-educated numbers in Scotland.

Alyn Smith and John Nicolson, former pupils of fee-paying Hutchesons’ Grammar in Glasgow, defeated one-time comprehensive candidates in Stirling and Ochil, and Perthshire South, respectively.

Hutchesons’ now has five politicians at a national level from its former pupils - the two MPs and three MSPs.

No other school is so well represented.

Two re-elected SNP MPs were also privately educated. QC Joanna Cherry attended St Margaret’s Convent school in Edinburgh, while Kirsty Blackman won a scholarship to Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon’s College.

There are comprehensives that have multiple alumni in politics. Greenock Academy has two MPs – local boy Ronnie Cowan and the new LibDem member for North-east Fife, Wendy Chamberlain.

So does Trinity High in nearby Renfrew, which is represented by the SNP’s Chris Stephens, of Glasgow South West, and Gavin Newlands, of Paisley and Renfrewshire North. Linlithgow Academy – alma mater of Alex Salmond – also continues its tradition of producing pro-independence politicians.

It has more Scottish MPs than the Labour Party, including former Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, of East Lothian, and local MP Martyn Day.