VOTING is now under way in the Scottish Green Party’s leadership election.

The Greens have been led by Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater since 2019, but Mr Harvie, who had previously served as co-convener from 2008, announced in April that he would step down from the role.

Ms Slater is standing again and will compete along with Gillian Mackay, Dominic Ashmole and Ross Greer for one of the two co-leadership spots, at least one of which must be held by a woman. 

The electronic ballot will be under intense scrutiny inside and outside the party after a process to rank candidates for the regional lists in next year’s Holyrood elections proved controversial.

Maggie Chapman, seen as a figurehead of the Scottish Greens’ left at Holyrood, missed out on a place at the top of the North East Scotland list, while a “software error” in the ballot affected lower-ranked candidates, forcing the party to reissue its lists.

The ballot runs until August 22, with the new leadership team due to be announced a week later.