The Scottish Greens must overcome a perception they are “too middle class” for many voters, a report by members has warned.
The party is often dismissed as “a bunch of middle-class do-gooders” with activists viewed as “well-meaning but well-off”, an article shared by the Green Left blog said.
“The perception – real or imagined – of Greens in Scotland as just a bunch of middle-class do-gooders is a one which the party just cannot shake,” it said. “This criticism is not an isolated one – the tag of well-meaning but well-off is one attached to environmental movements worldwide.
“But for any party member or environmental campaigner, this label is incredibly frustrating – especially for those working class activists who work in their own communities, only to be dismissed on the basis of an assumption.”
The article points to the example of Adam Ramsay, a Scottish Greens member since 2001 and the son of a landowning baron.
“The way to get culturally working class communities to vote for you is through years of hard graft. There’s not a short answer,” the former private school pupil said.
Niall Christie, a journalist and Green activist, said the party had to “ensure there is a credible left alternative for working people across Scotland”.
Some in the party are frustrated the Greens have not further capitalised on the SNP’s recent difficulties following the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon and Operation Branchform.
With the Labour Government at Westminster enduring a torrid first six months power, some Greens believe they should be winning more votes from left-leaning Scots.
The Greens entered power for the first time in 2021 when co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater signed a powersharing agreement with the SNP.
But the Bute House Agreement was terminated by Humza Yousaf last year in dramatic circumstances which ultimately cost him his job as First Minister.
There is little appetite among SNP members to repeat a deal with the Greens following the Holyrood election next year, even as opinion polls show the Nationalists are likely to fall far short of a majority.
Senior Scottish Greens hail from a variety of backgrounds. Harvie, co-leader since 2008, is from Dumbarton and was educated at the local high school.
Slater was raised in Canada and is a former pupil of Western Canada High in Calgary, one of the country’s best performing schools.
Ross Greer, the party’s economy spokesman, hails from the affluent suburb of Bearsden
The Record asked the Scottish Greens for comment.
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, clickhere