A BITTER internal feud is unfolding within the Scottish Greens, pitting members against the party’s leadership.
In the last week since Patrick Harvie announced he was stepping down as co-leader, there’s been plenty of talk about what future leadership should look like.
In recent days the conversation has become increasingly heated as speculation grows around who will stand, with internal elections set to take place this summer.
With that in mind, Saturday’s spring conference in Stirling presented the perfect opportunity for the party to turn over a new leaf.
Take Harvie’s speech – his last conference speech as co-leader – where he hit out at “factionalism and toxicity” from Scottish Greens members who have taken to “anonymous leaks, smears and insults”.
There was a notable amount of applause in response, especially given the heated nature of the discourse on social media.
But what exactly do Scottish Greens members think about the future of the party? And can they move past this "factionalism" in time for Holyrood 2026?
'We look like a toxic party'
Greens member Ryan Donachie – a critic of the party’s handling of the “anonymous leaks” – described the comments made by Harvie during his speech as “utterly ridiculous”.
He told The National: “A lot of members feel they’re not being listened to. We’re heading towards a Holyrood election; we need the Scottish electorate to know they can trust us.
“There’s a difference between leaking and raising legitimate serious concerns. We need to move away from calling it dissent, speaking out, bullying.
“Until we tackle this public image of looking like a toxic party, as we do at the moment, we’re not going to get anywhere next year.”
Donachie voiced support for comments made by Govan councillor Dan Hutchison, who wrote in the Green Left Scotland blog that the party needed leadership that is not “swept up in the circus of Holyrood”.
He said: “I think it would be good to have a councillor standing as co-leader. It’s important particularly given one of our most important areas of interest is local authority.
“I adore what Patrick has done in this party. He has brought this party to success, and I will never attempt to take that away from him. He is probably the most successful parliamentarian that we’ve produced in this party.”
But he added that the party wasn’t going to gain trust and respect from voters “by having two failed government ministers as co-leaders”.
Niall Christie, another vocal critic within the Greens, said the party was wasting time using its platform “to bollock our own members”.
He said: “Ordinary Green members are showing today that disagreeing with each other is healthy. Questions and critiques are not attacks and cannot be interpreted as such if we’re to build as a party.
“We need to be focusing on the real enemies of the far-right and capitalism as we go into elections in 2026 and 2027, not seeking to create enemies within.
“It’d be very disappointing if we continue to waste time using our platform to bollock our own members. Unity and hope should be on the minds of Scottish Greens as we select our next MSPs and co-leaders.
“We have a phenomenal opportunity at a fresh start right now, with new faces who can lead us into a bright future. I really hope we, as a party, take that chance.”
‘We need a bit of marriage counselling’
It has to be said that this feeling isn’t shared by everyone – in fact, Saturday’s conference seemed a largely positive affair, with many members sharing their excitement at the thought of preparing for next year’s Holyrood election.
Kayleigh O’Neill, a Greens councillor in Edinburgh, told The National that internal “bickering” would only serve to put members off the party.
O’Neill added that members who were critical had “every right to be annoyed and to question leadership”, but that they were taking it in “quite an undemocratic way”.
She continued: “I don’t think it’s the majority of the party, but they’re loud enough and irksome enough that it does unfortunately take time and energy away from us doing our actual jobs.
“I wish everyone would sit back and realise we’re on the same team. It honestly makes me feel like we need a bit of marriage counselling – we’re clearly in it for the long run and we need to learn to work together.
“We’re still a really small party, but we’re a serious party. And if we want to deliver 15 MSPs next year and double the amount of councillors we have, the bickering is only just going to throw good candidates out or put them off.”
Other members shared how they felt that dissatisfaction with party leadership was concentrated, rather than being spread across the country.
Mags Hall, a member of the Greens’ Fife branch, said: “From our point of view, the atmosphere at the moment is great, it’s really positive.
“We’re aware of other parts of the country where there is a bit of toxicity and a bit of hostility, but we’ve certainly not seen it locally.
“We’re just keen to get going and get cracking with this election campaign and see what we can do.”
It was a gloriously sunny day in Stirling and for the most part, the mood inside the conference was just as cheerful.
Yes, there's some disagreement about what the future leadership team should look like, and that disagreement is being aired out in plain sight on social media, but it would be wrong to suggest that this is the mood of the membership as a whole.
The party has been given a fresh start this weekend – all eyes will be looking to see what it does with it.
