Scottish Greens civil war sounds like a Shakespearean tragedy

The Herald Scotland

4 days ago

'Civil blood makes civil hands unclean', a warning in the prologue of Romeo & Juliet which the Scottish Greens may want to remind themselves of as party infighting escalates.
I never thought an infamous play about star-crossed lovers would make me think of a political party, yet, I couldn't help but be reminded of the Greens when watching the well-acted version of the play in Glasgow's Botanic Gardens on Friday.
It was not so much the love story I was reminded of, but the infighting in fair Verona compared to the party whose slogan is 'to make Scotland a greener and fairer place'.
As Shakespeare's version of the city has the Montagues and Capulets so too do the Scottish Greens have factions - and their most recent regional lists announcement may prove that 'ancient grudge to new mutiny' is on the rise.
Effectively deselected by local members, MSP Maggie Chapman was ousted from the top of the North East list by her former employee and self-proclaimed 'change' candidate Guy Ingerson.
The chances of the Greens picking up two seats in the North East are incredibly slim so this could be the nail in the coffin for Ms Chapman's political career as an MSP.
After various controversial statements she's made since being elected, including saying there was 'bigotry' coming from the Supreme Court, she's potentially not been considered the best advocate for many in the party.
Her rival, who has had his own spats with Ms Chapman, wanted to lead a message of change.
Mr Ingerson told The Herald's Josh Pizzuto Pomaco ahead of the candidate selection announcement: 'This is a battle for the soul of the [[Scottish Greens]]…we need change.'
Now that he's won, I can't imagine a loving friendship between the two sparring sides will now arise.
And he's not the only dissatisfied Green who has done well in the selection process.
Although current Green co-leader Patrick Harvie topped the Glasgow list - and sources tell me he did so 'comfortably' - behind him in second place for this region was Ellie Gomersall who is linked to a group critical of the current party leadership known as the 'Glasgow faction'.
With the Greens hoping to pick up three seats in Glasgow, Ms Gomersall's chances of becoming an MSP are 'very high', one source tells me.
Now, the party has its biggest challenge in their hands: to try and prevent infighting so they look stronger and more cohesive going into the Holyrood 2026 elections.
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They must be more like Benvolio in Shakespeare's tragedy and attempt to keep the peace.
To do so will be incredibly difficult given the amount of anonymous briefings journalists like me have been given in recent years.
The Herald has heard from multiple sources in the party about a great amount of discontent with the current leadership.
With their leadership contest concluding at the end of next month, the duo elected will have to get to grips with infighting to prevent the negative impact it will have on voters' perceptions of them which can sometimes stray not too far from student politic stereotypes.
So far, Ross Greer, Gillian Mackay and Lorna Slater are in the running.
But a plague upon their house will befall if they cannot prevent the public smear campaigns.
Despite hoping to double their MSPs next year to 16, the Greens will not win over the public if party members, let alone the voters, cannot trust one another.
Judging from the round of applause Patrick Harvie received when he addressed issues of infighting during their most recent Greens conference, it seems many members are sick and tired of the quarrels.
The message from their ranks appears pretty clear: Part fools, you know not what you do.