Right now, there are small rooms across Scotland with political strategists gathered around tables, preparing for the next election.
Conversations are happening. Communication strategies are being devised. Slogans are being written up.
All this is to convince you, the general public, to tick the box next to the party these strategists are advising.
Across the pond, strategists focus on a few key swing states that decide an election for 340 million people. Over here, there’s a comparatively vast battleground where it’s anyone’s game. Between the trenches of hardline unionists and nationalists, there are millions of Scots disillusioned with politics and starving for inspiration.
A disillusioned public, in many ways, benefits independence-supporting parties. They have the genie in the bottle, the rabbit ready to be pulled out of the hat.
As long as the UK economy is stagnating, those same strategists advising politicians with black and yellow rosettes will be saying, "Hang tight, wait for Labour to make mistakes, and we’ll edge the next election and hold onto power."
Especially with the rise of figures like Nigel Farage in England—a deeply unpopular politician north of Hadrian’s Wall.
However, if you look closer, even in the most committed factions, the foot soldiers tirelessly knocking on doors are beginning to feel the weight of a draining political struggle over the constitution. There’s a growing exhaustion with circular arguments and a bitter stalemate spanning over a decade, which inevitably affects the desire and energy of those campaigning.
It is among this faction that the Scottish Greens can capitalise.
Green parties worldwide will always have a unique appeal. The climate crisis isn’t going away, and a just transition from fossil fuels to green energy will be the centerpiece of the Scottish economy in the coming decades. A commitment to sending a radical message to the government and giving a voice to marginalised groups should be enough to retain their current level of support.
Members may fear, however, that retention is as ambitious as the party can currently hope for.
Why? For one, people care about the environment only as much as they have for sevral years now. This isn’t good. Public concern hasn’t increased nearly enough to match the urgency of the issue. People are tired of constant alarm bells and relentlessly negative language.
People don’t worry about climate change because it feels too overwhelming - we’re already in too deep. Imagine spending a week at the Cheltenham horse races and losing a month’s wages. You’d probably take a hard look in the mirror, seek help, and work ten times harder to recover the next month… but imagine that loss only added to the millions, hypothetically, that you already owe the bank. You’d simply give up. You wouldn’t care anymore. That’s what we’re dealing with here.
The climate crisis is the most pressing and challenging issue politics has ever faced, yet it’s treated like a slightly overrun department of the NHS. Green parties must get serious about how they market their proposals and shift to solution-based messaging. Moving away from relentless warnings will be essential to bringing more people on board.
Speaking of solutions… the Scottish Greens find themselves in a no-man’s-land. Their message is loud and clear: the only way to make the seismic changes needed to encourage meaningful climate action is to become an independent country. So what’s their purpose in their current capacity? Are they a statement party, or are they serious about governing?
While the party itself points to several positive changes it made in brief government roles with the SNP, this hasn’t been enough to convince more people that they’re serious about making tangible changes that can be felt by the Scottish public.
Don’t believe me? Just ask prominent activists Niall Christie and Ellie Gomersall, who publicly criticised the party’s lack of strategy after its predictable polling results:
The party, in my view, needs to ask itself an honest question… are we really pro-independence?
Saying so in a manifesto is one thing, but actions speak louder than words. For instance, the party was happy to vote through every budget proposed by Finance Secretary Kate Forbes but suddenly found issues with her religious beliefs once the SNP’s political capital was less crucial to them. Or when they wanted in on Sturgeon’s ‘de facto referendum,’ only to then, upon releasing their manifesto, bury Scotland’s relationship with the UK to page 16 under the headline ‘Make Devolution Work…’
That's without even mentioning when Co-leader Lorna Slater said Scottish independence was not “a red line” that would prevent the party from potentially working with Scottish Labour...
While the party continues to explain each case away, they need to be more politically astute in these moments. The party is too honest.
While I admire this honesty, especially from party representatives I’ve spoken to on the podcast - who have all made for great conversation as a result - I fear this might be a weakness in an unforgiving political landscape. There is no mercy in politics.
So again, the party needs to ask itself: are we a statement party, or are we serious about changing people’s lives and making a difference? If it’s the latter, they need to sink their teeth in a bit more.
Step one? Make a statement to the independence camp that you’re serious about the movement. Not a written statement, not a TikTok video - a hard-hitting political manoeuvre.
Patrick Harvie told me on the Untribal Podcast that they were quite relaxed about people’s views on the constitution, moving forward with that policy proposal because the majority believes it’s right.
Well Paddy son, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and stop relaxing. It’s time to put differences aside, reach out to independence-supporting parties, and embrace the late Alex Salmond’s idea of creating a pro-Yes alliance in pursuit of a single-issue mandate.
This would mean working with politicians that some in the party dislike. It could get messy… but if they’re looking for an easy ride, they can continue in cruise control and sit comfortably with the 10 seats they’re projected to get. I can’t imagine this will go down well with their members.
That’s the easy path… but politics isn’t supposed to be easy.
As Salmond recognised, a ‘Yes alliance’ could transcend party lines and offer Scots a clear, resolute alternative to the SNP-led independence movement - a direction the movement is currently tired of.
Rather than competing against each other, pro-independence parties could unite around a shared vision, appealing to voters across the political spectrum who want an independent Scotland founded on progressive values.
For the Scottish Greens, building an alliance is not only about securing votes; it’s about inspiring hope in those who feel politically abandoned. Many independence supporters are waiting for a party to step up and restore their faith in the movement. They want to see leadership that is unequivocally committed to independence, climate justice, and social fairness. The Greens, if they commit to a coalition and make their message clear, could become that party.
Until then, the party will continue to skirt round the edges of Scottish politics and hope for small victories when and as they come.
Time to get serious.
“Independence is a matter of political power. You either have it or you don’t. You’re in an arm wrestling match.”
Alex Salmond
Untribal Podcast
3/8/24
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