Greens Holyrood candidate confirms late bid for party leadership
He joins MSPs Gillian Mackay, Ross Greer and Lorna Slater in fighting for the two co-leader posts.
The 58-year-old research and development manager placed third on the South Scotland list behind the party's Laura Moodie and former Hamilton by-election candidate Anne McGuinness.
He said his goal was to challenge the party to speak more plainly about the difficult times he believes are ahead, and to demand 'emergency action' at Holyrood and in wider society in response to 'the collapse of climate and nature'.
READ MORE: Scottish Greens election 'clusterf***' as key member quits in candidate row
'Some people might assume that only MSPs can stand for this role," he said.
"But the Scottish Greens have the luxury of two co-leaders, and this can be turned to our advantage.
"With my colleague focused on delivering Green policies at Holyrood, I can work directly with the public, with civic society and with our excellent Green councillors, to help accelerate and scale up the change we so urgently need.
'We have a problem with hope. Everyone craves it – voters perhaps demand it. But 'hope' has also become a cynical rallying cry for vested interests and the super-rich."
He went on: 'Tragically, the future is not in fact full of hope. 2.5 degrees of heating is expected by 2040, with 4 degrees probable before 2100 – and scientists warn we'll soon cross multiple 'tipping points' that endanger continued life on Earth.
"As Greens, we are rightly proud of our achievements in both local and national government. But the brutal truth is that the situation demands bigger and faster change. Rather than selling 'hope', we should be issuing a call to arms. Let's mobilise civic society to mount a grassroots emergency response, and to empower a bolder politics.'
Ashmole contested Conservative MP David Mundell's Westminster's constituency, Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale, in 2024. He placed sixth with 3.4% of the vote share.
(Image: Christian Gamauf) The list of Green Holyrood candidates sparked controversy earlier this week when MSP Maggie Chapman (above) was not included as a lead candidate in the North East region.
Instead, she has been replaced by activist Guy Ingerson, who previously lodged a bullying complaint against Chapman.
The National previously reported that the complaint alleged that the MSP contacted Ingerson's place of work in October 2024 to suggest that he was "untrustworthy and should be 'watched'".
On Tuesday it was revealeda key member had quit their role after an internal row erupted over the candidate list.
Kate Joester resigned from her position as internal elections officer on Monday night.
Internal messages seen by The National showed members raising concerns about the selection process for some of the lists, with some members demanding a recount.
The National understands concerns were also raised around the selection contest between Harvie and Ellie Gomersall – who placed second on the Glasgow list –particularly around the transferring of votes to Gomersall from candidates who were knocked out in previous voting rounds.
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The party had sought to reassure members on Monday evening, as a spokesperson was quoted saying in the media that the party's internal elections officer (IEO) "has confirmed that the process and the methodology used are compliant with our selections procedure, and the lists published are correct".
However, shortly after that comment was published, Joester announced she had quit the role and claimed she had no part in the statement.
"To clarify regarding the statement in the press on members' concerns about counting irregularities; this did not come from me as Internal Elections Officer, and I am no longer in that post as of this evening", she told members.
Joester then shared with members that she resigned from the role because "I hadn't done a good enough job", adding that she had made an error in "not spotting the anomaly in the results spreadsheets when they were initially sent to me".
However, she clarified that she did "not know whether there is a problem with the results".
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