ONE of the country’s leading mental health organisations is calling on Scotland’s political parties to do more to protect the wellbeing of their politicians.

The Mental Health Foundation has urged Nicola Sturgeon, Jackson Carlaw, Richard Leonard, Patrick Harvie, and Willie Rennie to sign up to a pledge that would see them “put in place adequate support, training and office policies to change a workplace culture often dominated by toxic stress.”

The charity’s call to action was sparked this week after Kirsty Blackman stood down as the SNP’s deputy Westminster leader, citing the toll that lockdown had taken on her mental health.

She was the latest Scottish politician to talk openly about her struggles with her mental health.

Earlier this year, the SNP MSP Gail Ross – who is quitting Holyrood at the next election – said the job could “very challenging” to a person’s mental health.

“You do need to be a certain type of person to be a politician – you need to have quite a thick skin. I have made no secret of my problems with mental health in the past and this job is very challenging on your mental health.

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“There are times where I just have to be a different person when I am down here and disassociate myself from the person I am when I am at home.”

Ruth Davidson recently revealed she had self-harmed and had been diagnosed with clinical depression.

The former SNP MSP Mark McDonald revealed how he contemplated suicide on two occasions after losing his ministerial job in 2017.

Toni Giuliano from the Mental Health Foundation said: “Increasingly, politicians are speaking out about their mental health. While this honesty and openness is welcome, it’s worrying that some are stepping down due to mental health pressures at work. It raises serious questions about workplace culture in our parliaments, local authorities and party HQs.”

He added: “Elected politics is a high-pressure environment characterised by conflict, confrontation, and often bullying, online abuse and unrealistic expectations. But these are real people – each one with their unique vulnerabilities. It has become clear, given the number of politicians stepping down from their roles due to mental ill-health, that more needs to be done to help them cope. And unless we act, this toxic stress culture could dissuade many from seeking public office.”

Scottish Greens health spokesperson Alison Johnstone said they look forward to engaging with the foundation. She said: “There is no doubt that working in politics can be extremely challenging, and long hours is the norm. The lack of downtime can take its toll on mental health and also impacts on relationships.

“Kirsty Blackman should be applauded for opening up about this, and Gail Ross has also spoken out about how the inflexibility of the work prevented her from standing again. To be representative, politics needs to attract women and others with caring responsibilities to stand, not put them off.

“The Scottish Greens agree that all parties must look after their candidates, staff and elected members and we look forward to engaging with the mental health foundation.”

The Scottish Tories said they would be willing to sign the pledge. Shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said: “This is a very important campaign and one the Scottish Conservatives are fully behind.

“It’s absolutely vital that employers of all types prioritise the mental wellbeing of their staff. I hope this campaign can lead to positive change across Scotland.”