Inside the Scottish Greens as key member quits in candidate row

The National

3 days ago

The party shared their full list of candidates on Monday, which saw Maggie Chapman removed from the top spot of the North East list, meaning she is unlikely to win a seat in next year's election.
She was replaced as the lead candidate by activist Guy Ingerson, who previously lodged a bullying complaint against Chapman.
Maggie Chapman (Image: Christian Gamauf) Meanwhile, party co-leader Patrick Harvie saw off a challenge from a "radical" group of members to replace him as the lead candidate for Glasgow.
Internal messages seen by The National show members raising concerns about the selection process for both lists, with some members demanding a recount.
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Speaking about the North East list, Shetland councillor Alex Armitage said: "Our integrity as a party is a hugely important aspect of our values and our identity as Greens. It is so important that we can trust and have confidence in our selection procedures.
"I rarely speak out on internal issues but this just doesn't sit right with me at all. I'd like to move forward but before doing so I believe this should be properly scrutinised."
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.
Patrick Harvie 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 statement was published, the party's IEO, Kate Joester, announced she had quit the role and said 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.
A Scottish Greens spokesperson went on to say that there had been a "misunderstanding about the sign-off that [the statement] received which we apologise for", but that the rest of the statement's content remained accurate.
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And on Tuesday, Joester shared with members that she resigned from the role because "I hadn't done a good enough job", although clarifying that she did "not know whether or not there is a problem with the results".
The party has since confirmed a review into the process is underway with the company which supplied the service, and that members will be updated in due course.
Concerns have continued to be raised into Tuesday, although it is understood members are awaiting more detailed feedback from the party before taking further action, such as potentially tabling an emergency motion calling for the vote to be thrown out and re-run.
Speaking to The National, one member put it simply: "It's all a bit of a clusterfuck."
They added: "It's just spiralling more and more, and the party seem to want to try and ignore it, hoping it will blow over, but it won't."
Another member said: 'This is an absolute mess. If someone like Kate Joester is stepping down, there must be something seriously wrong.
"This isn't a factional issue, this is about basic fairness and democracy which is clearly not being applied.
"The results could easily be very different, and the longer questions aren't answered, the more this looks like a cover-up to protect a chosen few."
A Scottish Greens spokesperson said: 'As said to members last night, we are speaking to the provider to get more details about the approach used. These details will be shared with members in due course.'