Edinburgh independent councillor Ross McKenzie joins Greens
Edinburgh independent councillor Ross McKenzie has joined the Greens nearly three years after he quit the Labour party.
He said he had worked closely with the Green councillors since he became an independent and he felt “increasingly aligned” with them.
Cllr McKenzie , who represents Sighthill/Gorgie, said the Greens had been supportive in seconding motions which allowed him to raise issues at the council. And he had concluded he could best represent his constituents and work effectively on the council by joining their group.
His move means the Greens now have 11 councillors in the Capital, the same number as the ruling Labour administration and one more than the Conservative group. The SNP remains the biggest party with 17 while the Lib Dems have 14.
Cllr McKenzie’s application to join the Scottish Greens was unanimously approved by the party’s national council on Saturday, December 6, and he will attend his first Green group meeting today.
He said: “In the face of a disastrous Labour administration propped up by the Tories and Lib Dems, we need a strong left-wing alternative in our capital city, putting people and planet before profit.
“I’ve heard time and again from my constituents' concerns about housing, social care, planning and public spaces, and I'm in no doubt that the most effective way for me to represent those concerns is by working as closely as possible with the Greens.
“Labour have abandoned their core principles of standing up for the working-class across our country, they would rather hold onto power with the backing of Tories than improve our city for people and planet.”
Cllr McKenzie was elected as a Labour councillor at the last council elections in 2022, but dramatically resigned from Labour during the council’s budget meeting in February 2023.
He said: “I’ve really enjoyed being an independent - it has given me a lot of time to engage with communities and I think I’ve been doing a decent job of that. I spend a lot of time at community councils, community centres and third sector organisations in my ward. But as time has gone on, I have felt quite limited in terms of my ability to represent them.
“I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to work as a group and hopefully also be on committees.”
Under Scottish Green Party rules, elected representatives who join up must sit as “Green-aligned independents” until the next election, though they can be part of the Green group and serve on committees.
Cllr McKenzie said he had also had discussions with Your Party, the new party established by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana,but he said it did not seem to be taking shape in Scotland at this point. “I know lot of good people who are involved with You Party and I wish them well, but there’s still a lot to be done for them to bring it together in Scotland.
“I felt increasingly well aligned with the Greens and working well with the Greens and it just made sense.
“There hasn’t been a situation in my three and a half years on the council when I wouldn’t have been comfortable voting with the Green group - and there have been many situations where I haven’t been and wouldn’t be comfortable voting with Labour.
“When I stood for Labour in 2022, I had not conceived of the possibility they would go into administration through a deal with the Tories and Lib Dems. That was what led me to leave ultimately.
“I would say the Greens have stepped into a vacuum that Labour have created by going off with the Lib Dems and the Tories.”
And on independence, perhaps the most obvious policy difference between Labour and the Greens, he said: “I do support Scottish independence and I was pretty clear about that in the Labour party, but I have never wanted that to be at the front of my politics. It’s something that, when it comes down to it, I do support. But even people who do support independence, it’s not always their first priority.”
Edinburgh Green group co-convener Cllr Kayleigh Kinross-O'Neill said: “Green councillors have worked constructively with Ross since he left the Labour party, and have always found him to be highly principled and incredibly hard working.
“We are delighted that his Scottish Greens party membership application has now been approved, which will allow us to deepen our joint working with Ross to the benefit of everyone seeking a fairer, more equal capital city."