BBC Scotland political correspondent
Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie has seen off a campaign to replace him as the party’s top candidate in Glasgow at the 2026 Holyrood election.
In a ballot of party members, the outgoing co-chief secured the top place on the Glasgow regional list, which is likely to secure him re-election to Holyrood.
A slate of self-described “radical” Green members – who were critical of his time leading the party – had sought to replace him.
In other regional ballots, most sitting Green MSPs secured the top place on the list.
The results follow infighting about the direction of the party, which has been described as a “civil war” by some insiders.
A number of party activists have questioned the period the Greens spent in government with the SNP and claimed that power within the party had been concentrated in too small a group.
Harvie recently told BBC Scotland News that the behaviour of some figures had been “out of order”.
Holyrood’s longest-serving party chief, Harvie announced in April that he would not seek re-election as Green co-leader.
However, he will seek re-election as an MSP, having been first elected on the Glasgow regional list in 2003.
Along with his co-leader Slater, he was the first Green minister in the UK after his party signed the power-sharing deal with the SNP in 2021.
Under the electoral system for Holyrood, the regional list vote involves parties ranking their candidates.
The higher an individual appears on the list, the better their chance is of becoming an MSP.
Three candidates for the party’s two co-leadership positions – Gillian Mackay, Ross Greer and Lorna Slater – have all secured top spot in their regions.
All three are defenders of the time the Greens spent in government with the SNP.
However, North East MSP Maggie Chapman was ranked second, making re-election more difficult.
Chapman came under fire earlier this year when she criticised the judiciary over the Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of a woman.
In 2023, she expressed regret for a social media post claiming the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel was an act of “decolonisation”, not “terrorism”.
Leadership contest
Green leaders serve two-year terms and under party rules one of them has to be a woman.
Any Green member can stand for the leadership, meaning there could yet be a leadership challenge from the grassroots of the party.
The contest is expected to be decided by the end of August.
Looking at the results of the internal elections for the regional lists, it appears that members have backed those who have been prominent in the party in recent years.
Some activists have been vocal about their disappointment with the party’s performance.
But – at least for now – the 7,000 Scottish Green members seem to have given a vote of confidence to those who have been running the show.
And that could have implications beyond the Greens. The sitting MSPs have shown they are willing to do deals with the SNP.
That could prove to be important after next year’s Holyrood election.
