With North Ayrshire hosting their second sporting spectacular in weeks, the gender pay gap was on the agenda before competition began.

Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservative Party spoke about gender inequality at the Aberdeen Asset Management Leadership Forum ahead of the Ladies Scottish Open last week.

She explored the opportunities and challenges for women in business, politics, entertainment and sport.

The MSP spoke about the issues of getting women into politics, which she said required explaining what a job in politics is all about. She also discussed the gender pay gap, which she said was often due to ‘systematic and unknown bias’.

Politicians suffer from social media trolls, but Ruth said that the internet made the abuse more ‘visible’ for everyone to see.

Other speakers on Ruth’s panel, ‘empowering women in business and politics’, included Petra Wetzel, entrepreneur and founder of WEST Brewery, Rachel Short, Director at Why Women Work, and Lucy O’Carroll, Chief Economist, Aberdeen Asset Management.

The panel was moderated by Sarah Smith. Speakers on the second panel, ‘Leveling the playing field: how we can promote female leadership in sport’ included Sheila Begbie, Head of women’s and girls’ rugby at Scottish Rugby, Hala Ousta, SFA Head of Diversity, Sir Clive Woodward, English former rugby player and coach and golf pro Beth Allen.