SNP heavyweights are unseated by rampant Greens who win first constituency MSPS
TWO SNP heavyweights were unseated by the Scottish Greens as the party won their first ever constituency seats in an emphatic Holyrood result.
The Scottish Greens elected a record number of MSPS, including two constituencies seats.
It takes the party to a record number of seats.
Ross Greer, one of the party’s co-leaders, said it was a “historic day” for the Scottish Greens and he hailed it as a “breakthrough”.
It resulted in two SNP ministers missing out on Holyrood seats.
The party also made history by electing two transgender candidates – Iris Duane and Q Manivannan.
Ms Duane was elected on the Glasgow regional list, while Dr Manivannan entered Holyrood through the Edinburgh and Lothians list.
Celebrating the victory, Dr Manivannan said: “I am a transgender Tamil immigrant. My pronouns are they/them.
“To some in this country, I am everything that the hateful despise, and I’m standing here as your MSP with care.”
Kate Nevens and Kayleigh Ferguson Kinross-o’neill were also elected on the Edinburgh and Lothians East region.
Ms Nevens had previously come under fire for revealing she wanted to abolish prisons.
Lorna Slater won in Edinburgh Central, where she finished ahead of former Culture Secretary Angus Robertson, with a majority of 4,978.
That meant she became the first Green to win a Holyrood constituency rather than a regional list seat.
Ms Slater, the former co-leader of the Scottish Greens, who also served as a government minister alongside Mr Robertson as part of the Bute
House Agreement, gained the seat from the SNP with a 29.3% increase in the vote share.
Ms Slater told all the people that voted for her that she’s grateful for them putting their trust in her.
“Today we’ve reached the significant milestone of winning our
We’ve been building support, so this is a new milestone in Edinburgh and Glasgow
first constituency,” she said.
She argued that people had voted Green all over Scotland and hailed the party as it returned its largest number of MSPS on record.
Now Holly Bruce has become the second after she won the Glasgow Southside seat.
“Holly is going to be a great MSP,”
Slater said. “We absolutely weren’t really expecting that, so I’m blown away. Two constituencies is amazing for us.”
“We’ve been building support, so this is a new milestone for the Scottish Greens in Edinburgh and Glasgow,” she said.
“And it shows how that progressive agenda really has support, especially from young people.”
The Greens also gained the seat held by former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, after the veteran politician stood down after 27 years in Holyrood.
Holly Bruce won the Glasgow Southside constituency – a seat that had been targeted by the Greens since Ms Sturgeon announced her intention to step down.
Kaukab Stewart, the former equalities minister, was beaten by Ms Bruce by 3,101 votes.
Ms Stewart’s vote share fell by 32.5 percentage points, with almost all votes going to the Scottish Greens.
Speaking to journalists after her result was announced, Ms Bruce said: “I think it’s a big turning point that voting Green isn’t a wasted vote any more on the constituency ballot. “We mean business.”
She added that her track record as a councillor had “shone through” on the doorsteps, as she said her team had knocked on 20,000 doors.
Co-leader Ross Greer said his party had performed “definitely better than what we expected”, adding: “It appears we are now one of those bigger parties.
“Usually people who have always kind of aligned with us feel the need to vote tactically, usually for the SNP or Labour to stop somebody else.
“But that’s not what happened this time around.”
Mr Greer was asked whether he would re-enter government to prop up a minority SNP administration.
He said the Greens had previously proved to be effective at working with government to deliver their policies, either as part of an official power-sharing deal or not.
Mr Greer’s co-leader Gillian Mackay previously told The Herald she would be deputy first minister, and suggested Mr Greer would suit the position of finance secretary.
However, she admitted significant concessions would have to be made by the SNP, including a commitment to introduce free bus fares to all Scots.
Elsewhere, Maggie Chapman was returned to parliament despite controversy over her selection to the North East regional list.
Guy Ingerson was originally selected by party members as the
lead candidate last summer, defeating Ms Chapman in a shock result.
However, last month, Mr Ingerson was blocked from standing as a candidate after he was suspended from the Scottish Greens over an unresolved complaint.
It is understood Ms Chapman was one of the individuals who submitted a complaint against Mr Ingerson – but she will replace him at the top of the list, despite also having an outstanding complaint against her.
The Scottish Greens co-leader has repeatedly denied any bias in favour of Ms Chapman, with Ms Mackay telling The Herald she was “confident” due process had been followed.
Mr Ingerson, who was dropped right before candidate nominations closed, has been locked in a bitter
feud with Ms Chapman, who is his former employer, after he alleged she contacted his new employer, Friends of the Earth Scotland, to warn he was “untrustworthy”.
The Scottish Greens’ elections and campaigns committee received separate requests for both Ms Chapman and Mr Ingerson to
Usually people who have always kind of aligned with us feel the need to vote tactically
be re-vetted, with Mr Ingerson ultimately denied “approved candidate” status after a complaint was made in October last year.
Meanwhile, Ms Chapman passed the vetting despite also having a complaint outstanding – made by Mr Ingerson and another member.
In a statement shared to social media, Mr Ingerson said he had been subject to a “two-year campaign of bullying, lies, rumours and smears designed to stop my candidacy, those who participated in this campaign have been successful”.
The Scottish Greens also missed out on another seat in Mid Scotland and Fife because of the “spoiler” Independent Green Voice.
The party was set up by a pro-union campaigner and despite having no campaign in 2021, they won 2,210 votes in Glasgow and 1,690 in the South of Scotland at that election.
Back in 2021, had the Scottish Greens won 115 extra votes in the South of Scotland and a little more than 900 in Glasgow, they would have been returned to Holyrood with 10 MSPS instead of eight.