Harvie urges Greens to back new leadership team

Patrick Harvie has urged Scottish Green members to back whoever is elected to the leadership on Friday as he steps down.

The MSP announced earlier this year he would be stepping away from heading up the party after 17 years, but plans to continue as an MSP.

His fellow co-leader Lorna Slater is seeking to keep her job, facing a challenge from fellow MSP Gillian Mackay, while Ross Greer is seeking to replace Harvie as part of the gender-balanced top team against Edinburgh-based activist Dominic Ashmole.

In a statement released ahead of the announcement of the result on Friday, Harvie stressed the need for Green voices in Scottish politics as he urged the party to back whoever is victorious.

“With a new leadership team taking office on Friday it will be the start of a new chapter for our party. Regardless of who wins, my role will be changing and I’m looking forward to being a loyal lieutenant for whoever they are,” he said.

“The polls look very positive for our prospects to elect a record number of Greens MSPs in 2026 and if the party works hard and supports the new leadership team, we can continue to change Scotland for the better.

“Green ideas are more necessary than ever. Our world is on fire, our economic system is broken and the far right are on the rise.

“Green voices are absolutely vital if we are to protect people and planet, and secure a fairer, greener and better future.”

Harvie was elected as an MSP in 2003 and became co-leader of the party in 2008, when the Greens were “very different”, he said.

“It has been humbling and inspiring to have played such a frontline role as we have grown across every part of Scotland,” he added.

“At the time I took office it wasn’t just climate deniers and the political right who wrote us off.

“Lots of people who had sympathy for what we stand for hadn’t yet been persuaded we could make a difference.

“But we got stuck in and we delivered Green change, from higher taxes on the wealthy to ending peak rail fares and establishing free bus travel for young people.

“It is because of this record that we have firmly established ourselves as a bold and radical force in Scottish politics.”

He steps down as one of just two Green MSPs – along with Slater – to ever hold ministerial office, having been appointed by Nicola Sturgeon in 2021 following the signing of the Bute House Agreement, which secured the backing of the party’s MSPs for major SNP legislation.

It was the sacking of Harvie and Slater by Humza Yousaf which led to the former first minister’s eventual resignation as he faced two confidence votes and could not rely on the support of the Greens.