On 8 May, the Scottish Greens made history as they achieved their first ever win in a constituency election in Scotland. Lorna Slater, the former co-leader of the party, won Edinburgh Central by a majority of over 4,500 votes, beating Labour and the SNP to become the first Green to be directly elected to Holyrood.
While the Greens have won seats in Scottish Parliament before, those have all previously come from the supplementary Regional List and not the First Past the Post constituent vote. That changed at this year’s Scottish Parliament Election, as Slater won Edinburgh Central and Holly Bruce claimed Glasgow Southside, both former SNP seats.
During her victory speech, the Scottish-Canadian politician thanked all the party staff members and volunteers for “the best campaign we’ve ever had.” Slater previously worked as a Junior Minister for the Scottish Government during the Bute House Agreement power-sharing scheme between SNP and Scottish Greens.
Along with the 13 Regional MSPs they claimed, this has been their most successful election in Holyrood history as the party now boasts 15 MSPs total. They remain the fourth biggest party in Scotland behind the SNP on 58 seats and Labour and Reform, who are equal at 17 seats.
“Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity – Lorna Slater” by Scottish Government is licensed under CC BY 2.0.