SNP MSP Aileen Campbell and former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson have called on the Scottish Parliament to be more family-friendly to keep more parents in politics.

Communities Secretary Campbell announced at the weekend that she would not be standing for Holyrood in 2021, citing her desire to spend more time with her young family.

The news followed Caithness, Sutherland and Ross MSP Gail Ross's announcement that she would be stepped down to have more time with her family and watch her son grow up.

Ross said the demands of being in Edinburgh for much of the week have been difficult to deal with, and called on Holyrood bosses to consider remote voting and video meetings.

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Campbell, who represents Clydesdale, told the BBC: "I think when parliament established itself 20 years ago it was really ground-breaking, it was seeking to be family-friendly, but undoubtedly there are challenges there for everyone who is a parent in parliament, it's a tough going job, it's rewarding and it's not impossible to combine with family life - but it's not easy to do that either.

"I guess that would apply to lots of other jobs across the country, people are trying to combine work with life but I think what the decision of myself, of Ruth Davidson and Gail Ross does, it does show into sharp focus what more parliament needs to do, what more we all need to do to try and ensure that we don't discourage people from wanting to enter politics if they have a family because it is possible to combine it."

READ MORE: Gail Ross's decision to quit should spark rethink at Holyrood

Davidson (below) said the Scottish Parliament would have to make changes to avoid losing talented people. The MSP, who said she wanted to see more of her own family when she stepped down as party leader last year, said: "I think in terms of the Scottish Parliament itself if they want women and men, if they are the primary carer for children, to stay on as MSPs there are suggestions that MSPs have made, including Gail Ross, of how they can make the parliament more family-friendly, and I think the parliament needs to consider that if they want to hang on to good people."

She added: "If the Scottish Parliament is absolutely sure that it wants to be still considered the most family-friendly parliament in the world, if it wants to hang on to MSPs, if it wants to encourage more young women to come in, it has to start listening to MSPs that are making suggestions about how we can make this better, and it's not just about women, it's about whoever is the primary carer, that easily could well be and should well be in some cases the man, certainly in this day and age.

"We're losing talent from the Scottish Parliament and I don't think we've got talent to burn."

In a letter to Ross last month, the Scottish Parliament's Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee said it had identified practical concerns over remote voting and did not think it feasible to pursue it "at this time", but has made a commitment to further consider the potential for proxy voting.