Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie elected as first co-leaders of Scottish Greens

Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater have been elected as the first co-leaders of the Scottish Greens.

It follows the party’s new constitution, adopted at the spring conference this year, which led to the co-convener role being dropped to be replaced by gender-balanced co-leader posts.

Harvie has served as one of the party’s co-conveners since 2008, while renewable energy engineer Slater stood in the European elections for the Greens.

Aberdeen Greens co-convener Guy Ingerson and North Lanarkshire activist Graham Kerr were among those also in the running, as well as former co-convener Maggie Chapman.

Say hello to our Co-Leaders @lornagreens & @patrickharvie who will be leading us into the 2021 Holyrood elections pic.twitter.com/i28bx9OJzo

— Scottish Greens (@scotgp) August 1, 2019

The leaders will be elected for a two-year term, meaning they will lead the party into the next Holyrood election.

They will act as chief spokespeople and be responsible for the political leadership of the party.

In her election speech, Slater said: “I’m Lorna Slater, and I’m not a politician. I’m an engineer. But politics needs a different kind of person, we need more women, more ordinary people who work for a living, more disabled people, and that inspired me to get involved myself.

“Scottish Green politicians work for what they believe in, not what will make them popular or rich. They have integrity. And I’m deeply proud of the impact they – we – are having. In Holyrood and in Councils across Scotland, we are transforming our country.”

Harvie added: “The climate emergency is not about technocratic solutions, it requires transformative solutions. We need to reach out to voters across the country with our bold vision for the future.”