The outgoing Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie has said the party should be the “strongest group of Green MSPs possible” amidst the “threat of the far right” and other global events.
On Friday the Scottish Green Party gathered in Stirling where Harvie gave his final conference speech as co-leader.
He said “inevitably” he will be “reflecting a little bit on the journey we have been on”.
“We only need to look at the state of the world around us – the geopolitical changes, the threat of the far right, all this nasty, toxic, culture war stuff that’s damaging people’s lives and the failure of a lot of political parties to actually do what’s necessary to stop serving the billionaire class and start investing in putting public services back on their feet again – and the anger that leaves when that’s the way people see things going,” Harvie told STV News before the conference.
“The Greens have a real responsibility to continue to adapt to these changes and be relevant to the new political times. There’s no doubt there’s a huge potential to do that ahead of next election.”
Harvie was first elected in 2003 and is the Scottish Green’s longest serving MSP. At the beginning of April, the Glasgow MSP announced that he will not stand in the party’s upcoming leadership election, which is set to take place this summer.
Speaking to STV News ahead of his last co-leader speech, Harvie said it was “quite a strange experience”.
“There’s some mixed feelings,” he said.
“I’ve given a fair number of these co-leader speeches over the years and this will be my last one in that role. I’ve naturally been reflecting on journey the Scottish Greens have been on.”
During his conference speech, Harvie said he wants to see the “strongest group of Green MSPs possible” at Holyrood next year, as he warned of the growing threat from the far right and parties like Reform UK.
He also warned Conservative and Labour politicians against mimicking policies put forward by the right in a bid to counter parties like Nigel Farage’s Reform.
As polls have suggested Reform UK could win its first ever group of MSPs in next May’s ballot, Harvie said “the rise of the far right should concern everybody”.
He said “Conservatives and even in some instances Labour” are “basically echoing what the far right are doing”.
“Some of them try to persuade themselves that copying the far right is the way to beat them, and it isn’t, it fails every time,” Harvie said.
“With the rise of the far right, in this country and around the world, we see people who want to undermine the idea that politics and democracy are capable of changing society for the better.”
He added: “Greens want to win that argument, and demonstrate that people can have faith that politics can make their life better.”
Speaking ahead of the conference, Harvie told STV News that he has seen the party grow from a just a few hundred members when joined to well over 7,000.
“When I first joined, we had one MSP and no councillors. Now there are elected reps up and down the country and we’ve had a string of best ever election results in recent years,” Harvie said.
“Looking forward to hearing positive ideas coming forward from members about how we take Green politics to the next level.”
From a personal perspective, he said he’s also been on an “extraordinary journey”.
“My mum was a Green activist way before we had anyone elected. I remember as a kid getting taken along to branch meetings that were held in someone’s living room,” Harvie recalled.
He imagined telling that core group of early Green members that the “wee boy reading his book in the corner would end up as co-leader and have the opportunity to lead biggest ever [Green] parliament group, and take us to government for the first time and make Green policies a reality”.
“It’s been a wild ride,” Harvie added.
Harvie emphasised the Greens achievements to date, including free buses for young people, rent protections, and progressive tax reforms.
Looking forward, he said: “Greens can win seats, and Green ideas can make a difference. There’s so much more we can do to build on that track record.”
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