Everything about The Scottish Green Party totally explained
The
Scottish Green Party is the
Green party of
Scotland. It currently has two
MSPs in the
devolved Scottish Parliament.
The Scottish party is fully independent, and works closely with the other green parties of
Britain and Ireland: the
Green Party of England and Wales, the
Green Party in Northern Ireland and the
Green Party of Ireland. It is a full member of the
European Green Party.
The party currently has eight councillors - three in Edinburgh and five in Glasgow. All were elected in 2007 after Greens stood substantial numbers of council candidates for the first time. Until the 2007 elections, the Party had gained only one councillor at local level: in May 1990, Roger (aka Rory) Winter, representing the Highland Green Party (
Uainich na Gàidhealtachd), was elected in
Nairn as Scotland's first Green regional councillor to the then
Highland Regional Council. Cllr Winter broke away from the Greens in 1991 and continued his four-year term as an Independent Green Highlander.
Excepting the 2007 election, the Party had increased its vote at every comparable election since 1999. Although it currently only stands for the Scottish Parliament, it contested 19 seats in the
2005 Westminster election, getting 25,760 votes. Its top result was 7.7% of the vote in
Glasgow North, a major breakthrough in the West of Scotland. In the
European Parliament election of 2004, it missed out on a seat, with 6.8% of the vote. However, the Party lost 5 of their 7 seats in the
2007 Scottish Parliament election.
According to accounts filed with the
Electoral Commission for the year ending December 31, 2006, the party had an income of about £139,000 that year, and expenditure of around £76,000 and a membership of 963 up by 50 on the previous year.
History
The Scottish Green Party was a constituent part of the former
UK Green Party until
1990, when the Scottish Green Party became a separate entity. The separation was entirely amicable, as part of the green commitment to
decentralisation: the Scottish Green Party supports a referendum on
Scottish independence.
The Scottish Green Party benefits from the fact that the
British government created a
Scottish Parliament, which is elected using the
additional member system of
proportional representation. In the first election to this Parliament, in
1999, the Scottish Green Party got one
Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) elected by proportional representation,
Robin Harper, the UK's first Green Parliamentarian. On May 1, 2003 the Scottish Greens added six new MSPs to their previous total.
In the 2007 elections, the Party lost five seats in
Holyrood. However in the council elections, taking place under the new
Single Transferable Vote voting system, they gained three Councillors on the
City of Edinburgh Council and five Councillors on
Glasgow City Council.
On the 11th of May 2007 the Greens signed a working deal with the
Scottish National Party. This agreement ensures that the Greens will vote for Alex Salmond as first minister and support his appointments. In return, the Nationalists will back a climate change bill as an early measure and will nominate a Green MSP to chair a Holyrood committee.
Policy
The Scottish Green Party is committed to forming a
sustainable society. Their policies are guided by these five interconnected principles:
- Ecology: Our environment is the basis upon which every society is formed. Whenever we damage our environment, we damage ourselves. Respect for our environment is therefore essential.
- Equality: A society that isn't socially and economically just can't be sustainable. Only when released from immediate poverty can individuals be expected to take responsibility for wider issues.
- Our society must be founded on cooperation and respect. We campaign hard against discrimination on grounds of gender, race, sexuality, disability, age or religion.
- Radical Democracy: Politics is too often conducted in a polarised, confrontational atmosphere and in a situation remote from those that it affects. We must develop decentralised, participative systems that encourage individuals to control the decisions that affect their own lives.
- Peace and Non-Violence: Violence at all levels of human interaction must be rejected and succeeded by relations characterised by flexibility, respect and fairness.
These principles taken together give the Scottish Green Party a holistic view that's in common with all Green Parties around the world.
Scottish Green Party MSPs
All of the Scottish Green Party's
Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) have been elected under the list or "top-up" system of representation in the Parliament.
Current MSPs
Robin Harper is Party Co-Convenor, and MSP for the Lothians.
Patrick Harvie is MSP for Glasgow.
Previous MSPs
Shiona Baird for North East Scotland
Chris Ballance for the South of Scotland
Mark Ballard for the Lothians
Mark Ruskell for Mid Scotland and Fife
Eleanor Scott for the Highlands and Islands
Scottish Green Party Councillors
Steve Burgess (Southside/Newington Ward)
Maggie Chapman (Leith Walk Ward)
Alison Johnstone (Meadows/Morningside Ward) is also is Party Co-Convenor
Danny Alderslowe (Southside Central Ward)
Nina Baker (Anderston/City Ward)
Stuart Clay (Partick West Ward)
Martha Wardrop (Hillhead Ward)
Kieran Wild (Canal Ward)
Footnotes
Further Information
Get more info on 'Scottish Green Party'.
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