Greens official quits over 'anomaly' in party election results

Current Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie topped the party's Glasgow regional list

The Scottish Greens official who quit after overseeing the party's ranking of the candidates for the 2026 Scottish elections has said there was an "anomaly" in the results.

Kate Joester, who was the party's internal elections officer, said she had not spotted the issue when the figures were first sent to her.

She initially endorsed a statement from the party reassuring campaigners that there were "no realistic doubts" about the outcomes.

However, Joester now says she should not have given her backing amid concerns about how some votes were cast.

Under the electoral system for Holyrood, the regional list vote involves parties ranking their candidates.

The higher an individual appears on the list, the better their chance is of becoming an MSP.

Questions have been raised by party members regarding a number of the internal results.

They include that of the Scottish Greens' current co-leader Patrick Harvie, and North East MSP Maggie Chapman who failed to secure top spot in her election.

Some of the claims centre around how ballots were counted under the STV (single transferrable vote) system, where members rank candidates by preference.

In a message to all party members, first reported by The Herald, Joester expressed regret at "going along with a statement yesterday reassuring people that there we no realistic doubts about the results when I was not sure that was the case".

She also said that she had resigned from her position as she "hadn't done a good enough job".

Joester insisted she did not know if there was a problem with the election results - and urged party members to wait until the external company that oversaw the elections had clarified their processes.

A Scottish Greens spokesperson said "As said to members last night, we are speaking to the (election) provider to get more details about the approach used. These details will be shared with members in due course."

Sitting North East MSP Maggie Chapman did not secure top spot in her regional vote

In the Scottish Greens internal elections, Patrick Harvie, who is stepping down as co-leader, saw off a campaign to replace him as the party's top candidate in Glasgow at next year's Holyrood election.

He narrowly secured the top place on the Glasgow list, which is likely to deliver re-election to Holyrood.

A slate of self-described "radical" Green members - who were critical of his time leading the party - had sought to replace him.

In other regional ballots, most sitting Green MSPs secured the top place on the list.

Three candidates for the party's two co-leadership positions - Gillian Mackay, Ross Greer and Lorna Slater - all secured top spot in their regions.

All three are defenders of the time the Greens spent in government with the SNP.

However, North East MSP Maggie Chapman was ranked second, making re-election more difficult.

She has been placed behind activist Guy Ingerson - who stood against SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn in the Aberdeen South seat in last year's general election.

Chapman came under fire earlier this year when she criticised the judiciary over the Supreme Court's ruling on the definition of a woman.

In 2023, she expressed regret for a social media post claiming the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel was an act of "decolonisation", not "terrorism".