Scottish Green Party
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| Scottish Green Party Pàrtaidh Uaine na h-Alba |
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| Leader | Shiona Baird MSP and Robin Harper MSP are Co-Convenors of the party, and Parliamentary co-leaders |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Headquarters | 3 Lyne Street, Edinburgh, EH7 5DN |
| Political Ideology | Green, Scottish independence |
| Political Position | Left-wing |
| International Affiliation | Global Greens |
| European Affiliation | European Green Party |
| European Parliament Group | n/a |
| Colours | Green |
| Website | http://www.scottishgreens.org.uk |
| See also | Politics of Scotland |
The Scottish Green Party (Scottish Gaelic: Pàrtaidh Uaine na h-Alba) is the Green party of Scotland. It currently has seven MSPs in the devolved Scottish Parliament, making it the fifth largest party in Scotland.
The Scottish party is fully independent, and works closely with the other green parties of the British Isles: the Green Party of England and Wales, the Green Party of Northern Ireland and the Green Party of Ireland. It is a full member of the European Green Party.
To date the party has gained only one councillor at local level: in May 1990, Roger (aka Rory) Winter, representing the Highland Green Party (Uainich na Gàidhealtachd), was elected in Nairn as Scotland's first Green regional councillor to the then Highland Regional Council. Cllr Winter broke away from the Greens in 1991 and continued his four-year term as an Independent Green Highlander.
The SGP is optimistic about making an impact in 2007, when local authorities in Scotland are to be elected using the Single Transferable Vote system of proportional representation. In the European Parliament election of 2004, it missed out on a seat, with 6.8% of the vote.
The party has increased its vote at every comparable election since 1999. Although it currently only stands in the list seats for the Scottish Parliament, it contested 19 seats in the 2005 Westminster election, getting 25,760 votes. Its top result was 7.7% of the vote in Glasgow North, a major breakthrough in the West of Scotland.
According to accounts filed with the Electoral Commission for the year ending December 31, 2005, the party had an income of about £110,000 that year, and expenditure of around £100,000. At the end of the year there were 913 registered members.[1]
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[edit] History
The Scottish Green Party was a constituent part of the former UK Green Party until 1990, when the Scottish Green Party became a separate entity. The separation was entirely amicable, as part of the green commitment to decentralisation: the Scottish Green Party supports Scottish independence.
The Scottish Green Party benefits from the fact that the British government created a Scottish Parliament, which is elected using the additional member system of proportional representation. In the first election to this Parliament, in 1999, the Scottish Green Party got one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) elected by proportional representation, Robin Harper, the UK's first Green Parliamentarian. On May 1, 2003 the Scottish Greens added six new MSPs to their previous total.
[edit] Policy
The Scottish Green Party is committed to forming a sustainable society. Their policies are guided by these four interconnected principles:
- Ecology: Our environment is the basis upon which every society is formed. Whenever we damage our environment, we damage ourselves. Respect for our environment is therefore essential.
- Equality: A society that is not socially and economically just cannot be sustainable. Only when released from immediate poverty can individuals be expected to take responsibility for wider issues.
- Our society must be founded on cooperation and respect. We campaign hard against discrimination on grounds of gender, race, sexuality, disability, age or religion.
- Radical Democracy: Politics is too often conducted in a polarised, confrontational atmosphere and in a situation remote from those that it affects. We must develop decentralised, participative systems that encourage individuals to control the decisions that affect their own lives.
- Peace and Non-Violence: Violence at all levels of human interaction must be rejected and succeeded by relations characterised by flexibility, respect and fairness.
These principles taken together give the Scottish Green Party a holistic view that is in common with all Green Parties around the world.
[edit] Scottish Green Party MSPs
All of the Scottish Green Party's Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSP's) were elected under the list or "top-up" system of representation in the Parliament.
- Shiona Baird is Co-Convenor of the Scottish Green Party, and speaker on enterprise & lifelong learning, energy and waste. She is an MSP for North East Scotland and sits on the Enterprise, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee.
- Mark Ballard is Green speaker on finance and public services and sits on the Finance Committee. He is an MSP for the Lothians, the second Green MSP for that region. He also convenes the Parliamentary Group.
- Chris Ballance is an MSP for South of Scotland, and Green speaker on nuclear, peace, arts, culture & tourism, and parliamentary business. He sits on the Procedures Committee.
- Robin Harper is Co-Convenor of the Scottish Green Party, Green speaker on education, young people and sport at Holyrood and the first Green MSP for the Lothians.
- Patrick Harvie is Green speaker on justice, communities, Europe and constitutional affairs at Holyrood, and sits on the Communities Committee which is currently dealing with private housing and will move onto reform of the planning system later in 2005. He is an MSP for Glasgow.
- Mark Ruskell is an MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Green speaker on the environment and fisheries, and co-convenor of the Parliament's Environment and Rural Development Committee. He leads the Green campaign for a Food Revolution and GM Liability.
- Eleanor Scott is an MSP for Highlands and Islands, and Green speaker on health, rural development and marine issues at Holyrood.
[edit] Election 2007
On Monday 4th September 2006, the party released the names of the top three candidates to contest each regional list in the elections to the Scottish Parliament scheduled for June 2007. They are:
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Central Scotland
Glasgow
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Highlands & Islands
Lothians |
Mid Scotland and Fife
North East Scotland
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South Scotland
West of Scotland
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[edit] Footnotes
- ^ See The Scottish Green Party Statement of Accounts, For the year ending 31 December 2005, Electoral Commission website
[edit] See also
[edit] Wikipedia articles
| Political parties in the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| House of Commons (646) : |
Labour (354) | Conservatives (198) | Liberal Democrats (63) | DUP (9) | SNP (6) | Sinn Féin (5#) | Plaid Cymru (3) | SDLP (3) | Ind KHHC (1) | Independent (1) | Independent Labour (1) | Respect (1) | UUP (1) |
| House of Lords (741) : |
Labour (213) | Conservatives (208) | Cross-bencher (196) | Liberal Democrats (79) | UKIP (2) | Greens (E&W) (1) | Bishops (26) | Non affiliated (13) | Conservative Independent (1) | Independent Labour (1) | Independent (1) |
| Scottish Parliament (129): |
Labour (50) | SNP (27) | Conservative and Unionists (17) | Liberal Democrats (17) | Scottish Greens (7) | SSP (4) | Solidarity (2) | SSCUP (1) | Independent (5) |
| National Assembly for Wales (60): |
Labour (29) | Plaid Cymru (12) | Conservatives (11) | Liberal Democrats (6) | Forward Wales (1) | Independent (1) |
| Northern Ireland Assembly (108) |
DUP (36) | Sinn Féin (28) | UUP (18) | SDLP (16) | Alliance (7) | Greens (NI) (1) | PUP (1) | Independent (1) |
| London Assembly (25): |
Conservatives (9) | Labour (7) | Liberal Democrats (5) | Greens (E&W) (2) | One London (2) |
| European Parliament (78 out of 732): |
Conservatives (ED, 27) | Labour (PES, 19) | Liberal Democrats (ELDR, 12) | UKIP (ID, 10) | Greens (E&W) (EGP, 2) | SNP (EFA, 2) | Plaid Cymru (EFA, 1) | Sinn Féin (EUL, 1†) | UUP (ED, 1) | Independent (ADIE, 1) | Independent (ITS, 1) | Independent (NA, 1) |
| Notes | #Although Sinn Féin have five elected members and have offices at Westminster, they are abstentionist and therefore do not take their seats † Sinn Féin has a second MEP from the Republic of Ireland |
| Minor parties: | |
