The Scottish Greens will no longer be sharing in the government of Scotland. The Bute House Agreement which saw co-operation between the two parties and Ministerial posts for Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, has ended.

Humza Yousaf, First Minister of Scotland, thanked Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie for their work in the Government and hoped that the “spirit of co-operation and consensus-building ” would continue.

Lorna Slater was not quite so welcoming to the news of ending her role in government. She said:

“They have broken the bonds of trust with members of both parties who have twice chosen the co-operation agreement and climate action over chaos, culture wars and division. They have betrayed the electorate. 

“And by ending the agreement in such a weak and thoroughly hopeless way, Humza Yousaf has signalled that when it comes to political cooperation, he can no longer be trusted. “

The SNP led by former FM Nicola Sturgeon, entered into the Bute House Agreement after failing to win enough seats at the Scottish Parliament election in 2021 to have an outright majority at 64 seats out of a possible 129. Although the Scottish Greens won only 8 seats they were able to secure two Ministerial posts in the Scottish Government with the Bute House Agreement. It was strongly asserted at the time that this was not a coalition but it mostly worked in the same way.

The Bute House Agreement had a mixed response from voters. Its ending paves the way for a Scottish Greens grievance driven General Election campaign between the two parties who both support Scottish Independence but who are competing against each other in some seats.

Fiona Grahame