Lorna Slater

Lorna Slater (born 27 September 1975) is a Canadian-born Scottish politician, who served as Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity in the Scottish Government from 2021 to 2024.

She has served as co-leader of the Scottish Greens, alongside Patrick Harvie, since 2019, and was one of the first Green politicians in the UK to serve as government ministers.

Slater has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region since 2021.

Early life and engineering career

Lorna Slater was born in Calgary in the Canadian province of Alberta. She was educated at the Western Canada High School. From 1993 to 2000, she attended the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where she gained a degree in electro-mechanical engineering design.

In 2000, a month after she was due to graduate, she purchased a one-way ticket to Glasgow and planned to travel across Europe for two years, but ended up staying in Scotland. After moving there, she worked as an engineer in the renewables sector, then later as a project manager.

In 2018, she was one of three women from Scotland awarded a place on the Homeward Bound international leadership development programme and this included a trip to Antarctica the following year, where she studied the effects of climate change.

Early political career

Slater became politically involved during the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, where she campaigned in favour of Scottish independence.

Slater has been an election candidate for the Scottish Greens several times. At the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the party named her third on the Lothian list, while in 2017 general election, she was one of only three candidates fielded by the Scottish Greens, standing for Edinburgh North and Leith.

In April 2019, in a City of Edinburgh Council by-election for the Leith Walk ward, she took a 25.5 per cent share of first preference votes, finishing second. She was co-convener of the Scottish Greens Operations Committee when she was named second on the list of the party's candidates for the 2019 European Parliament election.

Also in 2019, Slater came third in the selection for the Green Party's Lothian list. Alison Johnstone won 191 first votes, Andy Wightman 133 votes and Slater 36 votes.

Co-leader of the Scottish Greens

Co-leadership election bid

Changes to the Scottish Greens' constitution meant the positions of co-conveners were abolished in favour of the newly established positions of co-leaders. In the run up to the 2019 Scottish Greens co-leadership election, Slater announced her candidacy via Twitter. When announcing her candidacy, she stated that the party was ready for a "fresh new start." Upon winning, she said that she wanted to get more women and non-binary people elected, and to gain more seats than ever before at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

On 1 August 2019, the results were announced and Slater replaced Maggie Chapman as the female co-leader (formerly co-convenor). She gained 30.2%, coming second place. She is serving alongside Patrick Harvie for a two-year term. As Slater was not a member of the Scottish Parliament, Alison Johnstone served as co-leader of the Scottish Greens within the Scottish Parliament, until the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

2021 election campaign

Slater became a prominent figure in the lead up to the Scottish parliamentary election, with her being featured in TV Debates and interviews. In the first televised debate on BBC Scotland, Slater urged action on climate change, stating; "Science tells us we have less than 10 years before the climate breakdown goes past the point of no return. The time to act is now." She also reinstated how the Scottish Greens would support legislation on another referendum on Scottish independence within the "next term of parliament".

In the 2021 election to the 6th Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Greens saw their best result ever. The party gained 8.1% of votes on the regional list, earning two additional seats. As the Scottish National Party was one seat away from a majority, the Greens' gain in the election created a pro-independence majority. Slater predicted the Greens "will have more influence than ever".

Member of the Scottish Parliament; 2021 to present

Slater stood as the Greens' candidate for the Edinburgh Northern and Leith constituency in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. She gained 13.1% of the votes, but failed to win the seat, coming third. Although Slater was unsuccessful in winning the constituency, she was second on the party list vote for the Lothian region, and was elected as an additional member.

Slater was a member of the Scottish Parliament's Economy and Fair Work Committee as well as the Scottish Greens' Spokesperson on Economic Recovery and Green Industrial Strategy.

Maiden speech

On 18 May 2021, Slater delivered her maiden speech to the Scottish Parliament. She called on all the parties to "work constructively and across party lines" to make transformative change. She also called on for the parliament to build a case for Scotland to leave the United Kingdom and believes the nation should vote again in another independence referendum.

We can take many of these steps now, without waiting for independence. But completing the necessary transformation must also involve asking the people of Scotland to choose their own future and building the case for independence which is based on transformation, on building the Scotland we want to see. A fair and green Scotland that is in charge of its own destiny.

COVID-19 rules breach

On 10 June 2021, a picture was shared on social media which showed Slater and other members of the Greens, including co-leader Patrick Harvie and MSP for West Scotland Ross Greer, breaching social distancing measures. At the time only three households were allowed meet indoors. However, The Scottish Sun reported that Slater, Harvie, Greer and another Green Party member were pictured at a bar in Edinburgh. Slater responded, "This was an honest mistake, we're kicking ourselves and we apologise unreservedly".

Bute House Agreement

In August 2021 after weeks of talks, she was at Bute House with co-leader Patrick Harvie and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to announce a power-sharing agreement that would see the Green party in government for the first time in the United Kingdom. There was no agreement on oil and gas exploration. As part of the agreement the Green Party would have two ministers in government.

Junior minister; 2021 – 2024

On 30 August 2021, Slater was appointed as a junior minister in the Scottish Government as Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity. She and Harvie are the first Green Party politicians in both Scottish and UK political history to serve in government.

She was re-appointed as a minister after Green MSPs supported the nomination of Humza Yousaf as First Minister.

Slater joined First Minister Humza Yousaf and Minister for Independence Jamie Hepburn to launch the Scottish government's proposal for how citizenship would work in an independent Scotland in July 2023.

In December 2023, she joined the Traveling Cabinet in Haddington, East Lothian. She then took part in a question and answer session with local residents with the Scottish Cabinet. It has been reported she attended that Cabinet meeting and other emergency Cabinet meetings as part of efforts to finalize the Scottish budget and get agreement between the Greens and SNP.

Deposit Return Scheme

In November 2021 Slater announced that a flagship recycling scheme for drinks containers had been delayed yet again. Although prior to her election Slater had told voters the scheme "needs doing", in government she said it was proving too tricky. Greenpeace said such, "a shambolic delay to the long awaited deposit return scheme is embarrassing for a government which loves to shout about its green credentials."

On 18 April 2023, the First Minister, Humza Yousaf announced the scheme would be delayed until March 2024, while the Scottish Government awaited an exemption for the scheme from the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020. Subsequently, after the UK Government decision to provide a partial exemption from the Act, Slater announced that the scheme would be delayed "until October 2025 at the earliest" and said that the UK Government "sadly seemed so far more intent on sabotaging this parliament than protecting our environment." Circularity Scotland, the body set up to deliver the scheme said it was "disappointed" by Slater's decision.

After delaying the scheme, she was subject to a vote of no confidence in Parliament, with the Conservatives accusing Slater of being "out of her depth". During the No Confidence debate, Humza Yousaf described the motion as a 'stunt' to distract from the report on Boris Johnson, a perspective shared by Slater herself, who had earlier called the motion "a shameless political stunt." The motion was defeated by 68 votes to 55 resulting in Slater surviving the vote and remaining as a junior minister.

Biodiversity

Slater launched a consultation on the Scottish Government's biodiversity framework in September 2023. Part of it, the biodiversity strategy had previously been delayed to allow for further development, which led to criticism from the Scottish Conservatives It proposes to halt the decline of biodiversity and create a “nature-positive” Scotland by 2030.

Marine conversation campaigners had criticised the strategy as a "paper exercise in delay". Slater disagreed, calling the criticism a "disappointing portrayal …[that] we neither recognise nor accept."

National Parks

In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election campaign, Slater's fellow co-leader, Patrick Harvie proposed two new national parks for Scotland. After the election, she gained the ministerial portfolio for national parks, and outlined the process for selecting one or more new national parks. In October 2023, Slater reaffirmed the promise to create at least two new national parks.

Circular Economy

The Circular Economy Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament by Slater in June 2023. Slater argues the bill targets “lazy, anti-social behaviour” and the country’s growing “throw away culture” by introducing further regulation on waste disposal. Slater's proposals were welcomed by Friends of the Earth Scotland. The Bill is currently undergoing stage one scrutiny by the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee who criticised the "entirely unrealistic" costings that accompany the bill.

Slater was criticised for avoiding questions from MSPs about the Bill by some commentators. Some campaigners have advocated for the Slater to go further, and include provision for education about the circular economy.

Personal life

Slater is autistic and has tweeted about this. She is openly queer.

She is also a hobby aerialist and has a pet bearded dragon called Bellamy, named after David Bellamy.

References

External links

• Scottish Parliament profiles of MSPs: Lorna Slater
• Lorna Slater's profile page on the Scottish Greens' official website