Scottish Greens candidate row has been ‘difficult’ for all involved – co-leader

The row over candidates in the north east has been “difficult” for all involved the Scottish Greens, the party’s co-leader has said.

Scottish Green election candidate Guy Ingerson was due to top the regional list for the party in the north east of Scotland in May, but was dropped on Monday due to an unresolved complaint against him.

Maggie Chapman is now set to take Mr Ingerson’s place at the top of the list. This is despite there also being an outstanding complaint against her.

Scottish Green co-leader Ross Greer said he was not involved with the complaints process but was “confident” that Maggie Chapman will be re-elected in the north east.

He said: “In the Scottish Greens, the complaints process and the candidate vetting process are completely impartial of our political leadership.

“They’re both really robust processes but it’s right that they’re separate from the political leadership of the party but, also, some of these processes are ongoing.

“Imagine if you were in a really difficult dispute in your workplace, you turn on the TV and you find the chief executive of the company talking about it. That wouldn’t be appropriate.

“I’m confident, I am enthusiastic about the list of candidates we’ve nominated in the north east.

“I know that we’re going to get Maggie Chapman re-elected as the North East Green MSP so that she can continue her campaigns, like getting the rail line extended to Fraserburgh and Peterhead, so that she can fight for the community in Torry, losing St Fittick’s Park really unjustly to corporate development.

“I’m confident that our campaign in the north east is going to get a green MSP re-elected for those communities.

“As far as our internal processes go, they are robust, but critically, they are politically impartial.

“They’re separate from the political leadership of the party. So, even if I knew the full extent of it, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to talk about it. But, quite rightly, that’s not a process that I’m involved in.”

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”.

Responding to those comments, Mr Greer said that the situation has been “really difficult” for everyone involved.

He said: “This situation has been a really, really difficult one for everyone involved. We are now at a point where we’ve been able to nominate a list of candidates for the north east, and we are confident that we will get a green MSP re elected for those communities. Communities who desperately need somebody to fight their corner.”

Speaking at the launch of the party’s campaign in Edinburgh on Thursday morning, co leaders Gillian MacKay and Ross Greer said “bold solutions” are needed to tackle problems like the rising cost of living and climate change.

Ms MacKay said these include: a fair wage for care workers; a national rollout of mental health support centres; curbs on how much land any individual or company can buy; and “the biggest expansion of free childcare for a generation”.

“There are more than 10,150 of us, to be exact, with more people joining us every day from all parts of our country,” she said.

“In every community across Scotland, there are people who are planning to vote Green for the very first time.

“That is why we stand on the verge of what could be a historic result and a major breakthrough for our movement.”

She added: “If you want a fairer, greener and better Scotland, if you want green policies that will save you money and tackle the climate emergency, if you want to keep Reform’s politics of hate out of Scotland’s Parliament, then you have to vote for it.”

“Join us in demanding better by voting for the Scottish greens on May 7.”