THE Scottish Greens are at a “pivotal moment” as the party gears up for its first leadership election without Patrick Harvie in almost two decades.
The Glasgow list MSP has put himself forward to contest the Holyrood 2026 election, but is stepping back from his role as co-leader, a position he has held since 2008.
Three MSPs have so far thrown their hat into the ring, but there are rumblings that a wildcard candidate could make a bid for the leadership, reflecting the disconnect some feel in the party from Holyrood and the fall out from the ending of the Bute House Agreement.
With voting for Holyrood 2026 selections closed on Friday afternoon, the Sunday National spoke to several Scottish Greens members across the country to dive into what’s going on behind the scenes.
On Thursday, Ross Greer announced his not-unexpected leadership campaign, having long been seen as Harvie’s successor. In 2016, he was the youngest MSP elected in that cohort, at only 21-years-old.
Gillian Mackay launched her leadership bid before taking maternity leave in May. In the last parliamentary term she spearheaded legislation to bring in buffer zones for anti-abortion protests at healthcare centres, and a ban on disposable vapes.
And, current co-leader Lorna Slater became a household name after taking on the role of green skills, circular economy and biodiversity minister through the Bute House Agreement, and her role in the failed deposit return scheme, which was scrapped by the previous Tory government in Westminster. One member described her as a “Green capitalist”.
“It’s still really quite early, and this leadership contest has overlapped with the Holyrood selections, so I think a lot of people are waiting to see what happens with that before they make a decision,” one member said.
“There might be some people who make it on the list who might throw their hat in the ring, so there is a lot up in the air.”
The winners of the selection contest are set to be announced in just over a week's time, with nominations for the leadership contest open until Friday July 25. All candidates need a proposer and a seconder, and the membership will use single transferable vote (STV) to rank their candidates, as they have with the Holyrood selections.
Those who were successfully nominated will be announced the following Monday, with a two week campaigning period. The winners will then be confirmed by the end of August.
Wildcard candidate
While the three candidates in the running are current MSPs, there has been a significant push from within for a councillor or someone else within the membership to run. What has now become known as the Glasgow faction is understood to be looking to put someone forward to challenge the party establishment.
There was consensus that if a fourth challenger did make it through, it would be from Glasgow or Edinburgh councillor cohorts.
In Glasgow, Ellie Gomersall is bidding to knock Harvie off the top spot for the regional list. She is running on a single slate, urging members to back Iris Duane in second and Seonad Hoy in third.
With the Greens historically winning their Holyrood seats through the regional list, this year's contest has seen several activists challenge incumbent MSPs across the country.
But in Glasgow in particular, this element is inevitably feeding into the overlapping leadership campaign.
One party source explained: “I don’t think it will be bitter, but I think it will be a hard fought contest.
“Anthony Carroll has been the subject of most of the chatter, but there is a chance that if Ellie Gommersall wins the top spot in the selection process, then she could use that momentum to enter the leadership contest,” they added.
Another Glasgow source told The National that it had become “quite nasty”.
“There is a lot of personal animosity towards Patrick and Ross that is being framed as left-wing versus centrist factions, but I think it's a bad cover story for a personal dislike of them,” they added.
A source close to Greer’s campaign added: “I think all of their ire will be directed at Ross, because they just don’t like him. I think they will try and coordinate their efforts, but I doubt it will cut through. “
Gommersall, Duane, and Hoy have taken on the banner of “Radical Glasgow Greens”. They declined to comment on the leadership contest.
It is understood that Carroll has not yet decided whether he is going to stand, but one source added that they were under the impression an announcement was “imminent” from the faction.
“I don’t feel very enthusiastic about it,” one member in the north east explained, adding that the fighting between factions will inevitably be reflected in the contest.
“So far I don’t know who I would vote for in this. We need someone from a working class background, who can truly speak to and understand the issues that are facing voters, particularly outside of the central belt,” they added.
Pointing to the lack of a just transition for workers in the oil and gas industry, the member relayed fears that without strong leadership in the Greens they would be “leaving the door open for Reform”.
“We need someone who can stand up to the cuts that have taken place, and those in the MSP team have voted for those cuts,” they added.
Another Green member agreed that the party needs to “root itself in working class communities”.
“There is a lot of discussion of working class voters going to Reform, but they could equally come to us if we build a movement to tackle inequality and issues that impact them.
“We need to contextualise the climate crisis on how it impacts people’s lives,” they said.
In Dumfries and Galloway, where polling has suggested Reform could do well at a general election, one Green told the Sunday National said there is a risk a councillor co-leader would cause an “imbalance”.
They added that it would likely have to be someone from the central belt as it would be “too difficult” otherwise.
“I think it would be healthy to do that and challenge the narrative that we are an urban only party, as we have a lot of councillors in rural areas,” they said.
“But, the MSP leader would have a higher profile, and be able to take part in things like FMQs, and it would be really difficult for the other co-leader to get the same kind of media attention.”
Bute House 2.0
The fall out from the Bute House Agreement has been stark, with members all generally coming to the same consensus - if the Greens are to go into government again, then there need to be more guarantees.
After Humza Yousaf ended the power sharing deal in April 2024, the SNP slowly but surely dropped all of the green policies they had adopted, and didn’t replace the ministerial roles taken up by Harvie and Slater.
The party undertook an internal review after the agreement ended, with some “constitutional tweaks” understood to be incoming as a result.
“We don’t know who could be in government after the election, and I think members would think twice before leaping into a deal, particularly as the SNP wobbled on a lot of green policies after it ended,” one said.
“It doesn’t have to be exclusively the SNP we would work with, there are other parties we could potentially work with, but some we definitely would not.”
Slater has previously suggested the Scottish Greens would be open to working with the SNP in government again after the next Holyrood election.
One member said the party needs to “learn the lessons” of the Bute House Agreement, while another said simply: “That would be up to the membership, it can’t be a fait accompli.”
“I think this is a really pivotal moment for the party,” a source close to Greer’s campaign said.
“We have a chance to make a fresh break and elect a new competent leadership team, particularly after the Bute House Agreement.
“People keep saying there's a civil war going on in the Greens, but most people in the party are on the same page. We need a leadership team who we can unite behind.”
And if the Glasgow faction decides not to stand a candidate, one source suggested they might give their backing to Mackay.
They explained: “I think she’s slightly banking on being nice, which she is, and that can go quite far with the Greens.”
