Even the most naive of 16-year-olds knows independence is pie in the sky
Polanski, and the Scottish Greens appear to be enjoying a related bounce.
Earlier this month, University of Edinburgh professor Ailsa Henderson, who leads the Scottish Election Study, highlighted a 23-point jump in support for the Scottish Greens among 16 to 24-year-old women.
Patronised
THE appeal of the Scottish Greens to this cohort is obvious. First of all, the party is younger, more socially progressive, and more relatable than any of its rivals. Ross Greer is just 31, his co-leader Gillian Mackay is 34. Greer became Scotland’s youngest MSP at the age of 21, so he understands what it means to be patronised by older politicians.
Mackay came to public attention with her successful Bill to introduce abortion clinic buffer zones. Holly Bruce, the party’s candidate for Nicola Sturgeon’s old stomping ground, Glasgow Southside, is the councillor who pushed for Glasgow to become the UK’S first feminist city.
At 43, Polanski is the same age as Anas Sarwar, but somehow hipper. He is, by common consensus, the first digital native UK party leader, with an instinctive understanding of how to communicate on social media (instinctive, but not unerring, as his reposting of the criticism of the arrest of the Golders Green stabbing suspect demonstrated).
If you wanted to be critical, you could say he was just a more charismatic Jeremy Corbyn. But then Corbyn’s big problem was his lack of charisma.
Secondly, the Scottish Greens’ policies are aimed directly at what has become known as “generation rent”: under 40s who are stuck renting in the private sector.
Whether or not the Greens’ apparent bounce translates into seats, I’m glad they are offering disaffected young people a home for their idealism
The Scottish Greens’ manifesto pledges to strengthen renters’ rights, introduce rent controls, and build 78,500 new social housing units over the next five years. Given my last column criticised other parties’ pre-election giveaways, I should point out these policies are uncosted.
But at least the Scottish Greens are happy to admit they will have to raise the taxes of big businesses and wealthy individuals in order to deliver them.
Green core beliefs
WHICH brings me to the Scottish Greens’ third, and most important, point of appeal: their refusal to blow with the wind. Whether or not you agree with their policies (and I often don’t) they have a set of core beliefs – on net zero, on trans rights, on universal basic income – which they stick to even under fire.
They are the only party which has an unequivocal stance on Israel’s genocide, and they have remained vocally pro trans in the face of huge opposition from the gender critical lobby.
Greer’s STV leaders’ debate exchange with Reform’s Lord Offord was particularly refreshing. “Do you want more people like me, or fewer?” Offord said, after boasting about how he had worked his way up to own six houses.
“Fewer,” Greer said without missing a beat. “I think it’s worth pointing out that there are three times as many empty homes and properties in this country as there are homeless children. You don’t need six homes. Everybody just needs a home to live in.”
What this bounce will mean for the Scottish Greens when the polls open is not clear. It seems likely they will do well on the list vote.
And there is some suggestion that
Holly Bruce could even defeat the SNP candidate Kaukab Stewart in Glasgow Southside – an activism-heavy and ethnically-diverse constituency, where feelings run high on Gaza, and unscrupulous landlords continue to be a problem.
That’s where my two oldest are registered this time round. Only the youngest will join us for the Eastwood polling station pilgrimage on Thursday.
I do not know how they will vote. But whether or not the Greens’ apparent bounce translates into seats, I’m glad they are offering a proportion of disaffected young people a home for their idealism, and a reason to turn out on the day. We are all scunnered. But they are the future.
We need to keep them caring, voting – and then, hopefully, standing – if we want the world to improve.