On Thursday, Scotland held its
seventh general election, and elected its
first transgender MSPs (Members of Scottish Parliament).
Dr Q Manivannan and
Iris Duane, both of the Scottish Green Party, secured regional list seats.
The Scottish Greens, more generally, have performed well this election. In addition to more than doubling the number of members elected, for the first, time two of their candidates has been elected to constituency seats.
Holly Bruce for Glasgow Southside, and
Lorna Slater for Edinburgh Central. Slater is a former co-leader of the party.
For those who are unfamiliar, in Scotland, voters complete two ballot papers, the constituency and the regional list. Each region is made up of several constituencies. Using a form of proportional representation called the
Additional Member System, votes in the constituency are factored in when selecting regional MSPs. This is designed, amongst other things, to allow voters to vote for smaller parties without their votes being "wasted".
(Note that the Scottish Green Party is a separate organisation from the Green Party of England and Wales. Relations between the two parties have been strained at times, but since Zack Polanski's leadership of GPEW,
ties are being restored.)