SCOTTISH GREENS THANK OVER 3,000 NEW MEMBERS
The Scottish Greens are thanking over 3,000 new members who have joined
the party since the close of polls on Thursday evening.
This means total membership has just passed the 5,000 mark. The surge
is also being seen on social media. The Scottish Greens' twitter
account - @scotgp - now has over 18,200 followers compared to Scottish
Labour's 13,000.
Recent opinion polls have put support for the Greens on 10 per cent on
the Holyrood regional vote, suggesting 11 MSPs, which would make the
Scottish Greens the parliament's third largest party, one MSP ahead of
the Conservatives.
In May's European election the Scottish Greens secured 108,000 votes,
coming ahead of the Lib Dems in 21 of Scotland's 32 local authority
areas.
Comments on social media from those joining the party include:
"Excited to be part of such a progressive movement."
"Patrick Harvie is absolutely fantastic."
"I’ve joined @scotgp to help bring about positive, sustainable change."
"First time I've been a member of a political party."
"Spent most of the #indyref campaign wishing green matters would get
more attention."
"Found @patrickharvie's arguments compelling throughout #indyref
campaign."
"Let's get working for a fairer Scotland."
Commenting, Scottish Greens co-convenor Patrick Harvie MSP said:
"I want to thank the vast number of people who have been in touch over
recent days to offer support, share their thoughts about the Green Yes
campaign, and to join the party in their thousands – including those
who voted Yes and No. We’ll be going into the next election as a much
bigger party than we could have imagined, and the potential clearly
still exists for a dramatic realignment of Scotland’s political
landscape.
"There are many ideas being debated about what that realignment will
result in, but the Greens have never been the kind of party where a
handful of people in leadership roles impose their own decisions on the
rest. Our local branches are currently debating the next steps, our
national council will meet on Saturday, and our members new and old
will meet at our biggest conference ever on October 11th to start
making our decisions together.
"One thing is very clear to me. As well as the huge numbers of Yes
voters who sought the kind of radical change that Westminster is
unlikely to deliver, there are also many who voted No but who share our
commitment to a sustainable economy, a fair and equal society, and a
renewed democratic culture.
"Making that happen will mean finding ways to work together. We have
always been a party that seek to work with others where common ground
exists, while still offering a robust challenge where we must on the
core principles of the Green agenda. I’m very excited to know that
we’ll be doing so as a far bigger party in future."
The party is now looking ahead to its conference on the 11th & 12th
October in Edinburgh, set to be its largest ever.
Key speakers include Green MSPs Patrick Harvie and Alison Johnstone,
former First Minister Henry McLeish, trade unions and NGOs.