Scottish Greens to announce first co-leaders

1 August 2019, 07:03 | Updated: 1 August 2019, 07:05

The Scottish Greens are to declare the result of their party's first co-leadership election.

Patrick Harvie and Maggie Chapman, the current co-conveners of the party, were both on the ballot, alongside Aberdeen Greens co-convener Guy Ingerson, North Lanarkshire activist Graham Kerr and European Parliament candidate Lorna Slater.

A new constitution adopted at the party's spring conference this year led to the co-convener role being dropped to be replaced by co-leader roles.

Under rules set out by the party, at least one of the co-leaders elected must be a woman.

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.

A spokesman for the party said: "Since the 2016 election, the Scottish Greens have been leading the change, challenging the other parties on issues from the climate emergency to protecting public services.

"Our MSPs have delivered a fairer income tax system, meaning most Scots now pay less than in the rest of the UK, we've secured hundreds of millions in extra resources for local councils and instigated a cross-party process to scrap the hated Tory council tax.

"We have five fantastic co-leader candidates and whoever is elected today will continue to build on this success as we move toward the Holyrood election on 2021."