21-07-2025
Green Maggie Chapman 'deselected' as Holyrood candidate after gender court ruling row
NEW: Chapman has been bumped to second place on the party's North East List.
A left wing Green MSP who accused judges of 'bigotry' over a court ruling on gender is facing an end to her Holyrood career.
Party members demoted Maggie Chapman to second place on the North East list rankings for next year's election.
A plot to bin Green moderates Patrick Harvie and Ross Greer has also failed.
Green members have voted to determine which party figures will top the eight lists for the next Holyrood election.
Of the seven serving MSPs, six have topped the List in their regions, but Chapman has been relegated after being the lead candidate in 2021.
She came behind Guy Ingerson, who reportedly made a complaint about her.
Chapman previously caused anger over a series of statements critics believed were ill-judged.
Following the Supreme Court 's ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex - a judgement that disappointed trans rights supporters - Chapman accused the judges of "bigotry, prejudice and hatred".
Her comments earned a rare rebuke from the Faculty of Advocates, whose dean Roddy Dunlop KC hit out at the "outrageous" remarks.
In 2023, Chapman was criticised after she said the Hamas terror attack on Israel which murdered 1300 people was a 'consequence of apartheid, of illegal occupation and of imperial aggression by the Israel state".
She later said she had caused "significant upset and anger for some" and deleted the post.
A party source said the Greens would not return two MSPs in the North East and predicted Chapman's Holyrood career is over due to being 'deselected'.
Left wingers in the party have also been behind plans to deselect Harvie and Greer as MSPs.
But Harvie has again topped the Glasgow List and Greer came first in the West of Scotland.
Former Minister Lorna Slater secured first place on the Edinburgh & Lothians East List, while Gillian Mackay did likewise in Central Scotland & Lothians West.
Slater, Mackay and Greer are also candidates in the current leadership contest for the Scottish Greens.
Slater, who remains one of two co-leaders, said of the list rankings: 'Next year's election is pivotal for the future of Scotland and our planet, that's why I am delighted that Scottish Green members have selected such a strong group of lead candidates who will deliver real change in Holyrood.
' Greens have been the only influential left-wing force in the Scottish Parliament for decades, delivering free bus travel for young people, scrapping peak rail fares, and securing tax reforms to ensure the richest in society pay their fair share to support the services we all rely on, like our NHS.
'With more Green MSPs, we can continue to push for the climate emergency to be taken seriously by other parties who want to protect corporate profits rather than our planet, and to fight back against the toxic climate change denialism from the far-right. Scottish Greens won't give up on our planet's future.
'Electing a record number of Scottish Greens is the only way to secure the pro-independence majority in Holyrood, and to continue advancing the case to rejoin the European Union. It is a cause that Scottish Green MSPs will continue to make on the doorsteps across the country and in the chamber at Holyrood.'
