Exclusive:Greens leadership candidates Ross Greer, Gillian Mackay admit party 'painfully white and middle-class'
The Green leadership rivals also clashed over a gender ‘tokenism’ row.
Candidates vying to become the next leader of the Scottish Greens have warned the party is “painfully white” and “painfully middle class”.
Four candidates have put themselves forward to be the next co-leader of the Scottish Greens, including incumbent co-leader Lorna Slater, alongside senior MSPs Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer. Local activist Dominic Ashmole is also in the running for one of the two positions.
A leadership hustings on Friday night ahead of voting opening to party members heard a call for the Greens to take inspiration from the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Asked what the party's biggest weakness was, Mr Greer bluntly warned the Greens were “far too white”, adding there was a “need to reach out to minority communities”.
He said another weakness the Greens faced was being “far too complicated about talking about things”.
Ms Mackay, who agreed with Mr Greer on a number of issues during the hustings, said the party was “painfully white”, but added it was also “painfully middle class”.
The Central Scotland MSP stressed there was a need for the Greens to be “speaking plainly to voters and cutting out some of that jargon”.
She added: “The rise of Reform is a potential thing that could cost us certain votes in places.”
Ms Mackay suggested Reform, although saying its views and policies are "abhorrent", had an ability to “speak to people on a very simplistic basis”. She said: “We need to do the same, but from that left angle.”
Ms Slater, who previously served as a minister in the Scottish Government, told activists that “success has been a team effort”.
She stressed she wanted to continue a role in “taking on the anti-immigrant, anti-trans and climate denial” from other parts of Scottish politics and “counter the narrative that the Greens are anti-business”.
The Lothians MSP warned the party “sometimes misunderstands our voters“. But she insisted it had been “wonderful working with [co-leader] Patrick [Harvie] over the last six years”.
READ MORE: Patrick Harvie brands radical left challengers 'out of order' as he addresses Greens' 'smugness'
Ms Slater also called for the party to “ensure there is a woman leader”, particularly taking part in events leading up to next year’s election with every other Scottish political leader being a man.
But Ms Mackay, who is on maternity leave until January, took a thinly veiled dig at Ms Slater, accusing her of backing “tokenism”.
She said: “It is not progressive to force that tokenism of having a woman there and it being detrimental to them, whether that be for their health, whether that be family or caring responsibilities.
“That is something we as a party need to be comfortable with and not tear strips off each other if that happens. Very often, there is a good reason behind it.”
Mr Ashmole called for the Greens to be “working together with other progressive forces to see off that threat” of Reform.
If he is successful, Mr Ashmole is planning to “tour the country" and would take on a “grassroots mobilisation and support role”, with him not poised to enter Holyrood until next year, if elected.
He warned the Greens not to continue pushing for “drastic change” and “not just falling in with other people’s agenda”.
Since the Greens left government last year in Humza Yousaf's catastrophic final act as first minister, the party has been subject to infighting. Activists who believe the Greens are not radical enough failed in an attempt to de-select Mr Harvie from the Glasgow regional list, while internal documents have been leaked to the media.
Mr Greer insisted those members taking part in “leaks and spreading dirt” to the press should “just leave” the Greens.
He said: “It hasn't felt like the party’s pulling in the same direction over the last year.”
Ms Mackay warned members the Greens "occasionally struggle” with “being tolerant when our views differ”, adding “we need to be nicer”. She said “leaking out to the press needs to stop”.
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