Scottish Greens publish Holyrood candidate list amid party infighting

Spectator

4 days ago

As the 2026 Holyrood election looms, parties are scrambling to get their candidate lists finalised. Today the Scottish Greens have released their regional list names – with some rather interesting selections amid party splits. One of the most significant decisions sees the current MSP for the North East region, Maggie Chapman, demoted on the list as her rival Guy Ingerson secures the top spot. While Chapman is second on the list, party insiders have admitted they are not expecting to elect two MSPs in the area – which would mark the end of the eco-activist's five-year career in frontline politics.
The move is the latest development in infighting that has caused schisms in the party. Last month, Ingerson made a formal complaint against the North East MSP, accusing her bullying. Ingerson said that Chapman contacted his employer to tell them he was 'untrustworthy'. The Green party's leader in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Ingerson is also the co-convenor of the party's LGBT group.
Chapman's skirmish with Ingerson isn't the first time she has proven herself a controversial figure. She was criticised after describing the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas as 'decolonisation', not terrorism, in a now-deleted Twitter post. After being spoken to by her party leadership – with co-leader Lorna Slater saying she did not support Chapman's comments – she later wrote that the 'upset and anger' her tweet had caused was 'never my intention and I regret where this was the result'.
After the Supreme Court ruling that reaffirmed the biological definition of a woman, Chapman sparked outrage after taking to the street of Aberdeen to denounce the ruling and fume that she believed there was 'bigotry, prejudice and hatred' coming from the country's highest court. Scottish Tory MSP Tess White subsequently tabled a motion calling for the removal of Chapman from her role as deputy convenor of Holyrood's equalities committee – though thanks to SNP support, Chapman held onto the job.
There is trouble elsewhere in the party too. Attempts were made to oust outgoing co-leader Patrick Harvie from the top of the Glasgow list by a new group of radicals – called the 'Glasgow Faction' – made up of vocal campaigner Ellie Gomersall and one-time general election candidate Iris Duane (who has been placed fourth on the party's Glasgow list). Alongside councillor Seonad Hoy, the pair argued in a social media video that the party needed a 'fresh start' and took aim at the current leadership of the party (co-ran by Harvie and Slater, but with a leadership contest taking place this summer), saying internal power had been 'consolidated into a smaller and smaller group of people'.
The emerging group is also critical of the time the Greens spent in government – before the Bute House Agreement was scrapped under Humza Yousaf – and have lamented a lack of community investment during that time. Speaking to the BBC, Harvie hit back at his rivals in a statement that perhaps reveals some long-overdue self-reflection:
For a long time, the Greens sometimes were guilty of – and sometimes even felt satisfied – just saying 'we're right, everyone else is wrong'. Sometimes that can make activists feel satisfied, but it doesn't achieve very much. And I think to a lot of voters, it comes across as smugness.
The rowing goes back further, with the party's former general election candidate, Niall Christie, suspended during the candidate selection process for the 2026 elections after publicly criticising the Green party leadership. Christie has since backed Gomersall and Duane as 'excellent candidates' – and has in the past called on Harvie and current Green MSP Ross Greer to stand aside for 'radical women', even if they were ranked top of the regional list race by party members. With Greer especially ambitious (he is standing for the party leadership, with Slater and current MSP Gillian Mackay also throwing their hats into the ring) it doesn't seem likely this will happen anytime soon.
Despite the rifts within the party, the polls suggest the Greens are on track to gain seats next year – with one Ipsos survey from June suggesting the environmentalists could even double their current MSP intake. But as both the Conservatives and SNP have demonstrated in the recent past, party infighting can seriously harm your chances in the eyes of the electorate. And while today's candidate list suggests that some sitting MSPs may be right to fear for their jobs, a 'fresh start' isn't quite on the horizon yet.