A NEW left-wing alliance has insisted it will return its first MSPs in May after its chances were written off by the Scottish Greens.
Patrick Harvie, the Green co-convenor, said he was not concerned by the challenge of RISE as a battle for the second votes of SNP supporters intensifies.
However, the coalition, which has been dubbed the 'Scottish Syriza' and is advocating a second independence referendum by 2021 and higher taxes on the rich, said it was set to launch a mass canvassing campaign which it believed would secure seats.
A key battleground of the May election is the race for regional votes with parties hoping to win over electors who
plan to back the SNP with their constituency ballot.
The nationalists' dominance in constituencies means they will struggle to win many list seats due to Holyrood's voting system, leading smaller pro-independence parties to ask SNP supporters to lend them their second votes.
Jonathon Shafi, RISE National Organiser, said the coalition that includes the Scottish Socialist Party had already developed a network of local groups that would deliver a "extensive and professional campaign".
He added: "In the coming weeks, we will launch a referendum-style mass canvassing programme, which will reach into parts of the country that other parties tend to overlook.
"If we get MSPs elected in May - and we fully intend to - they will work side by side with the Greens on a range of key issues. We're sure that Patrick Harvie would agree that the Scottish Parliament would benefit from a wider spread of radical voices."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel