Learning from “Greens in Government™”
Editor of Green Left Scotland, Niall Christie makes the case for socialism in the Scottish Green Party.
Niall Christie was the Scottish Greens candidate in Glasgow South at last year’s General Election and secured the Greens best ever GE, coming third behind the SNP and Labour with 13% of the vote.
When Scottish Greens members meet in Stirling this weekend for the party’s conference, it will be just shy of a year since the party was flung back into opposition in Holyrood.
Free from the trappings of attachment to a rightward-shifting SNP, the past twelve months have shown the strength of Greens which led them to being in government in the first place - and the important role played by grassroots members within that.
But the space between the Scottish Greens and power has also allowed for a reflection on our role in Holyrood, and how we play it.
In recent months, Green MSPs have renewed calls to end public financing of companies linked to the arms trade - and in particular, the genocide in Gaza. The party’s parliamentarians have called for Council Tax to be scrapped, warning of the negative impacts of this “broken” system. And Greens, in pushing the SNP late last year on nature protections, said the Scottish Government must show an environmental leadership that has been lacking.
These are all policies that the Scottish Greens are the only party raising. But these are also all issues that the Greens have been rightly criticised for having been allowed to fall by the wayside during our time in power.
On funding for arms companies, Green MSPs were leading voices opposing any public funding or grants being provided to complicit businesses. But as we entered government, any public criticism of this issue all but disappeared - only to be resurrected after we had been kicked out of power. At a time of an ongoing genocide, “Greens in Government™” repeatedly voted for budgets with the SNP which would inevitably funnel money to businesses making munitions - including those now profiting from the genocide in Gaza.
“If Scottish Greens wouldn’t even stand up for the protection of our natural environment when we were in Government, questions about what we will protect were inevitably going to follow.”
Council Tax - and the freeze which has been cited by some as the beginning of the end of the Bute House Agreement - is another area where Green values were put aside, and our views overlooked by our partners in Government. Now correctly described as “outdated” and working “for nobody”, this is a far cry from the ultimatum presented to members in late 2023, and speaks to the loss of any opposition to the left of the SNP in parliament.
Protecting Scotland’s ecological future represents the most egregious shift away from Green values to take place during our time in Government.
Signing off on the Green capitalism of a £2billion PFI deal which will leave the Scottish public subsidising the profits of private capital, we lauded the chance to offer investors the “opportunity to generate sustainable returns from the restoration and regeneration of our landscapes”. If Scottish Greens wouldn’t even stand up for the protection of our natural environment when we were in Government, questions about what we will protect were inevitably going to follow - regardless of record climate and nature funding negotiated in the latest budget.
But as the past year has outlined areas where we would do well to learn before next year’s Holyrood election, it has also allowed for a swell in grassroots momentum pulling the party back towards the left, and ensuring a more consistent approach to the party’s arguments in the Scottish Parliament.
In recent months a new group has been formed within the Scottish Greens, specifically to argue for the rights of Palestinians. The new Palestine Solidarity Group (PSG) hopes to connect with social movements, putting their views at the heart of the party’s thinking.
Councillors too have made themselves heard on the funding cuts to local authorities during the Greens’ time in government, and the damage done by the Council Tax Freeze we backed shortly before leaving government. At last year’s autumn conference, Green MSPs were tied to voting against any budget which cut funding to local authorities, with members even junking the day’s entire voting schedule to ensure a vote was heard.
Even the process of being kicked out of government began with members, as a move to ditch climate targets proved to be intolerable for ordinary Greens. Within days of members calling an extraordinary general meeting to discuss our future in government, this show of grassroots democracy proved too much for the SNP, and we were removed from power.
As a member of the Scottish Greens, the past twelve months have renewed my hope that our attempt to do politics differently will hold, despite flirtations with the managerialism that has dragged the SNP further and further towards the centre.
“Members have consistently set the agenda for the party … and we must ensure that there remains a left-wing voice in holyrood”
Indeed, work driven to focus on the potential for radical policy change from Greens has already been taking place. I’m proud to edit the Green Left Scotland substack, which has hosted members from across the party, and focused on issues often left unsaid within the Greens - from our lack of diversity, to our perceived middle-classness, and the underappreciated value of our representatives in local government.
Members have consistently set the agenda for the party, and as a result had huge impacts on the politics of Scotland in a way that those in other parties can only dream. As we choose our next set of MSP candidates and co-leaders in the months ahead, this will be even more important.
Whether we end up back in Government in 2026 is not a pressing issue. We don’t know the outcome of the election, who will make up the government, and whether our politics would even be tolerated. But we should not worry either way. We have learned from our time in government, and when we do get a chance at power again, we will no doubt be better prepared for the challenges it will bring.
Too, we have shown ourselves to be an effective force in opposition. After Patrick Harvie announced his resignation as co-leader last week, Political Editor of the Daily Record, Paul Hutcheon took to social media to claim the Green leader of 17 years has “probably secured more Budget concessions and policy wins than any other opposition MSP”. An honourable record which reflects the strength of having Greens holding the government to account, and one we should take heart from as we move into whatever comes next.
As we move forward, we must ensure that we are at the centre of decisions, that there remains a left-wing voice in Holyrood, and that we are not tempted by the neoliberal forces of even Scotland’s establishment if we are to return to power.
If we do, both the Scottish Greens and Scotland will prosper.
Niall Christie is a Scottish Green Party activist and edits the Green Left Scotland substack.