MEMBERS of the Scottish Greens will today vote on whether to back the co-operation deal announced with Nicola Sturgeon’s government which will see the party’s co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater become ministers.
The result of the ballot – which will determine if the agreement unveiled last week is implemented – will be released just after 2.30pm at a press conference in Glasgow.
Reports have suggested the outcome could be tight, with members of the party who back the pact saying it will create a majority independence-supporting government which will make it harder for Boris Johnson to stand in the way of a new referendum.
Supporters in the Greens also say it will provide an unprecedented opportunity to get environmental policies on to the Holyrood administration’s agenda.
READ: The full text of the SNP-Greens deal on co-operation
However, sceptics suggest the Scottish Greens already have considerable influence on the minority SNP government as an opposition pro-independence party.
They say such leverage was demonstrated on the Scottish Government between 2016 and 2021, pointing to reforms of income tax and free bus travel for under 22s as policies implemented under pressure from the party.
Harvie and Slater yesterday urged party members to take a “historic step” and back a deal to see the party enter government.
Ahead of the vote, both leaders insisted the agreement will be good for Scotland, boost the country’s efforts to tackle the climate crisis and lead to “transformational” policies such as implementing rent controls.
Speaking at a new solar farm at the University of Edinburgh’s Easter Bush campus, Slater said she did not want to pre-empt the outcome of today’s vote, but was “confident that the deal is the right thing for Scotland”.
READ MORE: Scottish Greens to have two ministers in government in deal with SNP
The newly-elected Lothian MSP said: “With this deal we will be able to implement things that wouldn’t happen without Greens in government; things like rent controls, things like significant funding and investment for active travel in Scotland, and I want to be able to stand on doorsteps in four years and say that the Greens delivered these things.”
She urged members to back the deal, adding: “My message is to think about it, read it carefully and really understand what is in the deal and how influential the Greens can be as part of this deal.”
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