Scottish Green Party
| Scottish Green Party Pàrtaidh Uaine na h-Alba Scots Green Pairty |
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|---|---|
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| Co-Convenors | Martha Wardrop and Patrick Harvie |
| Representatives in the Scottish Parliament | Alison Johnstone and Patrick Harvie |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Headquarters | 20 Graham Street Edinburgh EH6 5QR |
| Youth wing | Scottish Young Greens |
| Membership (December 2010) | 1,200[1] |
| Ideology | Green politics, Pacifism, Scottish independence Social Liberalism Ecosocialism |
| Political position | Left-wing[citation needed] |
| International affiliation | Global Greens |
| European affiliation | European Green Party |
| European Parliament Group | N/A |
| UK Parliament affiliation | None, Cooperates with the Green Party of England and Wales and Green Party of Northern Ireland |
| Official colours | Green |
| Scottish Parliament |
2 / 129
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| Local government in Scotland |
10 / 1,222
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| Website | |
| http://www.scottishgreens.org.uk/ | |
| Politics of Scotland Political parties Elections |
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Core topics
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The Scottish Green Party (Scottish Gaelic: Pàrtaidh Uaine na h-Alba; Scots: Scots Green Pairty) is a green party in Scotland. It has two MSPs in the devolved Scottish Parliament, Alison Johnstone, representing Lothian, and Patrick Harvie, for Glasgow.
Contents |
[edit] Organisation
The Scottish Green Party is fully independent, but works closely with the other green parties of the United Kingdom 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 elected in 2007. There are also two members of the party sitting as Democratic Independent councillors in Aberdeenshire, both of whom defected from the Scottish Liberal Democrats in 2009.[2]
At the 2005 Westminster election, the party contested 19 seats and gained 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 five of their seven seats in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election.
According to accounts filed with the Electoral Commission for the year ending December 31, 2009, the party had an income of about £90,230 that year, an expenditure of £61,165 and a membership of 1,072.[3]
[edit] 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 1 May 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 11 May 2007, the Greens signed an agreement[4] with the Scottish National Party, which meant that the Greens voted for Alex Salmond as First Minister and supported his initial Ministerial appointments. In return, the Nationalists backed a climate change bill as an early measure and promised to legislate against ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Firth of Forth. The SNP also agreed to nominate Patrick Harvie, one of the Green MSPs, to convene one of the Holyrood committees: Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change.
On 28 January 2009, the two Green MSPs were instrumental in the defeat of the Government's budget,[5] though a slightly amended version was passed easily the following week.
On 31 May 2009, Cllr Martin Ford, formerly a Liberal Democrat, joined the Scottish Green Party in protest to the plans by Donald Trump to develop on an important environmental site at Menie.[6] On 13 October 2009, he was joined by fellow former Liberal Democrat Cllr Debra Storr.[7] Both Councillors continue to serve on Aberdeenshire Council as members of the Democratic Independent group.[8]
[edit] Policy
According to the party's website, current policy is guided by the party's 2005 Westminster election, 2007 Holyrood election, and 2009 European election manifestos.[9]
According to the same website, the party is committed to forming a sustainable society,[10] and is guided by four 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 is not socially and economically just cannot 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 Nonviolence: Violence at all levels of human interaction must be rejected and succeeded by relations characterised by flexibility, respect and fairness.
The party claims that, taken together, these principles give the party a holistic view that is in common with all Green parties around the world.[11]
[edit] 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.[12]
[edit] Current MSPs
- Alison Johnstone is MSP for Lothian
- Patrick Harvie is MSP for Glasgow and was elected male Co-Convenor of the Party in November 2008.
[edit] Previous MSPs
- Shiona Baird for North East Scotland.
- Chris Ballance for the South of Scotland.
- Mark Ballard for the Lothians.
- Robin Harper for the Lothians.
- Mark Ruskell for Mid Scotland and Fife.
- Eleanor Scott for the Highlands and Islands. Elected Co-Convenor of the Party in November 2008.
[edit] Councillors
[edit] Aberdeenshire Council
- Martin Ford (East Garioch ward)[13]
- Debra Storr (Ellon & District ward)
[edit] City of Edinburgh Council
- Steve Burgess (Southside/Newington ward)
- Maggie Chapman (Leith Walk ward)
- Alison Johnstone (Meadows/Morningside ward)
[edit] Glasgow City Council
- Danny Alderslowe (Southside Central ward)
- Nina Baker (Anderston/City ward)
- Stuart Clay (Partick West ward)
- Martha Wardrop (Hillhead ward)
- Kieran Wild (Canal ward)
[edit] Previous councillors
Prior to the 2007 elections, the Party had only ever elected 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.
[edit] Electoral performance
| Election | Percentage of Scottish vote | Seats won | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 Scottish Parliament Election | 3.6% | 1 seat | Robin Harper became the first Green parliamentarian in Britain. |
| 1999 European Parliament Election | 5.8% | 0 seats | |
| 2001 General Election | 0.2% | 0 seats | |
| 2003 Scottish Parliament Election | 6.9% | 7 seats | |
| 2004 European Parliament Election | 6.8% | 0 seats | |
| 2005 General Election | 1.1% | 0 seats | |
| 2007 Scottish Parliament Election | 4.0% | 2 seats | |
| 2009 European Parliament Election | 7.3% | 0 seats | The highest ever vote share the party has achieved. |
| 2010 General Election | 0.7% | 0 seats | |
| 2011 Scottish Parliament Election | 4.4% | 2 seats |
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/party-finance/database-of-registers/statements-of-accounts/soa/pdfs/soa_25-05-11_13-30-33.pdf
- ^ Welcoming Debra Storr to the Greens. - Two Doctors
- ^ The Scottish Green Party Statement of Accounts For The Year Ended 31 December 2009, Electoral Commission website, retrieved 10 May 2011
- ^ SNP and Greens sign working deal, BBC News website, 11 May 2007, accessed 6 January 2010
Text of Scottish National Party and Scottish Green Party Cooperation Agreement (60Kb pdf), accessed 6 January 2010 - ^ Scottish budget rejected by MSPs BBC News, 28 January 2009
- ^ Gordon, Green. "Welcoming Martin Ford to the Greens.". Two Doctors. http://www.twodoctors.org/2009/05/welcoming-martin-ford-to-the-g.html. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
- ^ Glenn, Stephen. "Welcoming Debra Storr to the Greens.". Two Doctors. http://www.twodoctors.org/2009/10/welcoming-debra-storr-to-the-g.html. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
- ^ "Aberdeenshire Council - Councillor Political Affiliation". Aberdeenshire.gov.uk. 2011-06-10. http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/councillors/political_affiliation.asp. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
- ^ Policy Overview, party website, accessed 28 December 2009
- ^ The expression sustainable society appears also in the title Manifesto for a Sustainable Society, which is still the principle policy-reference document of the Green Party of England and Wales
See The Green Party of England & Wales Policy and Manifesto for a Sustainable Society, Green Party of England and Wales policy website, accessed 28 December 2009 - ^ The Principles of the Scottish Green Party, party website, accessed 28 December 2009
- ^ The Green MSPs' blog
- ^ Cllr Ford was originally elected as a Scottish Liberal Democrats councillor but left the party following the controversy over Donald Trumps proposed Golf Course and resort.
[edit] External links
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