Lorna Slater was elected as the new MSP for Edinburgh Central on Thursday’s election, the Scottish Greens’ first ever constituency win in Scotland post-devolution.

She replaces the Scottish National Party’s Angus Robertson, who has served as Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since being elected MSP in 2021 and was previously party deputy leader under Nicola Sturgeon.

Robertson also served as a Westminster MP for Moray between 2001 and 2017, and as Leader of the SNP in the House of Commons from 2007 to 2017. 

Slater won with a majority of 4,582 (13%) and a total share of 36%, ahead of Labour’s James Dalgleish (23% total share), with Robertson coming third at 21.9%. 

Who is Lorna Slater?

Lorna Slater was previously co-leader of the Scottish Greens alongside Patrick Harvie from 2019 to 2025. 

Slater also served in the Scottish Government as Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity between 2021 and 2024, one of the first Green politicians in the UK to serve as a government minister.

Originally from Calgary, Canada, Slater moved to Glasgow in 2000 after graduating with a degree in electro-mechanical engineering design. She worked in the tidal energy sector before joining the Scottish Greens in 2014 following the Scottish Independence Referendum. 

She has stood in elections for the Scottish Greens on several occasions: during the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the 2017 general election, and a 2019 City of Edinburgh Council by-election. 

What are Lorna Slater’s priorities?

Slater’s campaign focused on expanding free bus travel, implementing rent controls, free school meals, improving the accessibility of childcare, as well as taxing the ‘super-rich’. 

Her campaign crowdfunder says: ‘Lorna is a proud advocate for LGBT+ rights and a welcoming, compassionate, Scotland. She will stand up for her principles against the backtracking of the SNP and the rise of Reform.’ 

What does this win mean for the Scottish Greens?

Lorna Slater’s election to Edinburgh Central is the first time the Greens have won a constituency contest. 

She described the party’s first constituency win as ‘a significant milestone’

“The win] is amazing for us. It shows how that progressive agenda really has support, especially from young people.”

The Scottish Greens also gained three seats on the Edinburgh and Lothians East list (including Q Manivannan, the first openly transgender person elected to Scottish Parliament), as well as one each in the North East and Mid Scotland and Fife regions. 

How does this result compare to the rest of Scotland?

The SNP won their fifth election in a row with 58 seats (-6), but without an outright majority. They were followed by Labour at 17 (-4) seats. Reform beat the Greens at 17 seats (+17) to 15 (+6), followed by the Conservatives at 12 (-19) and the Liberal Democrats at 10 (+6). 

Malcolm Offord, leader of Reform UK Scotland, said his party should be designated the ‘main opposition’ as they won a greater share of the votes than Labour; Anas Sarwar, leader of Scottish Labour, said his party was ‘hurting’ and would continue to fight for change. 

Ross Greer, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, said they and the SNP have a ‘mandate to deliver’ a second referendum on Scottish independence and that his party would ‘stand up to bullies’ Reform UK. 

Featured Image via Scottish Greens, Flickr.

Davie’s resignation after five years as the head of the BBC follows ongoing claims of bias within the organisation, including from prominent political figures such as US President Donald Trump.

The resignations came after The Telegraph published details of a leaked internal BBC memo, which suggested segments of Trump’s January 2021 speech were deliberately edited together so as he appeared to encourage the Capitol riots.

What is the BBC accused of?

The BBC is accused of deliberately editing together footage of a speech Trump made on 6 January 2021, to show him appearing to encourage the Capitol riots.

In Trump’s original speech in Washington DC, he said: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”

In the Panorama programme, edited to include a segment of the speech that occurred 50 minutes after the original Capitol comments.

The Panorama editing meant Trump was shown saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”

What were the Capitol riots?

On 6 January 2021, supporters of Donald Trump attacked the United States Capitol Building after his defeat in the 2020 US Presidential Election.

Five people died during the riots, upwards of 174 police officers were injured, and upwards of 1,500 people faced criminal charges (including Trump himself).

The ‘self-coup’ was an attempt to halt Congress from completing a count of the Electoral College votes and formalise the victory of then President Elect Joe Briden.

At the time, Trump was accused of inciting violence via his speech, during which he told his supporters: “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore”

Who is former BBC director general Tim Davie?

Tim Davie has been director general of the BBC since September 2020. He has overseen several major events at the organisation, including the publishing of new guidelines for BBC employees on impartiality, which he has called one of the organisation’s “founding principles”.

In his resignation announcement, he said: “Like all public organisations, the BBC is not perfect, and we must always be open, transparent and accountable.

“While not being the only reason, the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision.

“Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director general I have to take ultimate responsibility.”

Who is former head of news Deborah Turness?

Deborah Turness has been the BBC’s CEO of News and Current Affairs since 2022, formerly serving as president of NBC News and editor of ITV News.

In a statement published on Sunday, she said: “In public life leaders need to be fully accountable, and that is why I am stepping down.

“While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.”

How has President Donald Trump reacted?

Trump responded to the news of Davie and Turness’ resignations via Truth Social, posting a lengthy statement: “The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught “doctoring” my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th.

“Thank you to The Telegraph for exposing these Corrupt ‘Journalists.’ These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election.”

What happens now for the BBC?

This is not the first time the BBC has been accused of bias, but it is unprecedented for both the director general and head of news to resign on the same day.

The same internal memo that detailed concerns over the Panorama edit, also raised concerns over the BBC’s coverage of the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. It claims the organisation’s coverage is affected by problems of “systematic bias”.

Finding a replacement director general will be a priority. Rumoured contenders include Jay Hunt (former BBC One controller and current creative director of Apple Europe), Alex Mahon (former CEO of Channel 4), and Kate Phillips (current chief content officer for the BBC).

However, the emotional toll of the head role has been noted by many at the organisation. BBC chairman Samir Shah has said: “This is not an easy job to fill, it really isn’t.

“And I have to be honest, the way we as a country attack people, really personally, is not good. Why would somebody want to do this job if that’s what they face? We’re asking a lot of a director general.”

In the aftermath of his resignation, Tim Davie has said his stepping down from the organisation will not be immediate, and he will ensure “an orderly transition” over the coming months.

Featured Image via Tim Brown, Flickr.

Black, the party’s former Deputy Leader at Westminster, revealed that she ended her party membership in recent weeks because she disagreed with “too many decisions”.

Speaking to The Herald, she said: “There have just been too many times when I’ve thought, ‘I don’t agree with what you’ve done there’ or the decision or strategy that has been arrived at.”

Ms Black made headlines back in 2015 when she was elected as the youngest MP to the House of Commons since 1832, at 20 years old.

She was re-elected in her constituency, Paisley and Renfrewshire South, in 2017 and 2019, before becoming Deputy Westminster Leader of the SNP in 2022.

Black stood down as an MP in the 2024 general election, calling Westminster “one of the most unhealthy workplaces you could ever be in”.

Since leaving politics, she has gone on to experiment with stand-up comedy, including a sold-out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with her show “Politics Isn’t For Me”.

Speaking on her decision, Black singled out the SNP’s positions on issues like trans rights and single-sex spaces.

She criticised the prominence of Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes within the SNP, who has expressed socially conservative views and opposed the Scottish government’s Gender Recognition (Reform) Bill, which would have made gender self-identification easier for trans people. 

Speaking to BBC Scotland last year, Black said she was “done with party politics” and would have “probably left the party sooner” if Forbes had become the SNP leader.

Forbes was a candidate in the 2023 SNP leadership election, where she ultimately came second in the vote behind Humza Yousaf.

Black claimed she was “still pro-independence”, but that the party has “capitulated” on issues including “LGBT rights, and trans rights in particular”, adding that “the party could be doing better about Palestine as well.”. 

Black has also said that she will “throw [her] money behind” the Good Law Project, which campaigns on trans human rights and is trying to fundraise in order to take the UK government back to court over the Supreme Court’s rulings on the legal definition of a woman.

The former Deputy Leader said: “”If anything, I’m probably a bit more left wing than I have been.

“I don’t think I have changed all that much. I feel like the party needs to change a lot more.”

Ms Black’s departure from the SNP comes ahead of her second run of shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, this year named “Work In Progress”.

The show promises to focus on her life outside of politics as well as her experience of being nuerodivergent, following an ADHD diagnosis during her time at Westminster.

An SNP spokesperson told the BBC the party was “united under John Swinney’s vision of creating a better, fairer Scotland”.

Featured image via HM Government.