“This is a battle for the soul of the Scottish Greens,” Guy Ingerson tells me, with absolute certainty in his voice.
“We’re often seen as a pseudo-intellectual middle-class party, and to be fair, we’ve been led by those types of people for some time — and to great success. But now we need change.”
Tall and gregarious, the environmental campaigner has a disarming nature. Yet, speaking about his decision to stand in the party’s selection contest against leading Green MSP Maggie Chapman — his former boss — Ingerson’s voice crackles with passion.
He is just one of the party’s foot soldiers to express dissatisfaction with the status quo in recent weeks.
In Glasgow, a self-described “unashamedly socialist” slate of candidates are looking to unseat long-time party boss Patrick Harvie.
I speak to Iris Duane, 22, a student at Glasgow University.
“We are at a monumental crossroads,” Duane notes. “This election process is about having that conversation, seeing where we want to take the party and what we want to do in the future.
“All three of us,” Duane says, referring to co-conspirators Ellie Gomersall and Seonad Hoy, “are working class and often feel quite discontented by the political class.
“Our message is very clear. We are unashamedly socialist. We are members of an eco-socialist party and we believe that that should be reflected.”
Here too, the passion is evident.
This perspective, that Scottish Greens leadership is out of touch with rank-and-file members, is shared by Hoy, a Hillhead councillor elected in a by-election upset last March.
She remarks: “A change of direction is needed. We’ve achieved a lot from our current MSP team. But now we need practical change that will impact peoples' daily lives."
The mum and social housing advocate, who has been involved with the party since the independence referendum drew her into the political fray a decade ago, adds:
“I think we have a bit of an image problem. We’re seen as quite middle-class and establishment. We need to be speaking to people."
“The Bute House Agreement was a major issue for the party and our external image,” Hoy concedes.
“I was in favour when we signed it, but there were a couple things which upset me, especially Humza Yousaf announcing a council tax freeze without consulting us.
“That should have been a red line.”
The feeling that the Scottish Government has sold out local councils is shared by Ellie Gomersall, the third member of this radical triumvirate.
Gomersall, formerly the president of student union NUS Scotland, will be challenging Harvie directly, asking Green members to select her number one on the party’s list.
She tells me: “Everyday in Glasgow, I see the impact that cuts are having. There’s a lack of ambition coming from the Scottish Parliament. I believe the Greens are pushing the parliament to go further, but we need more Green MSPs and fresh voices.
“Although we accomplished a lot, many members have lost trust in the party after signing the BHA due to issues like cuts and the council tax freeze.”
Duane agrees. Asked what her priorities as an MSP would be, she pauses, before continuing.
“We often speak about wealth distribution and progressive taxation. But often what isn't raised is just how battered our local authorities have been in recent years. There are many, many local champions across many parties who are fighting for their areas.
“They've basically got two hands and two legs tied behind them. Councils need more money and whilst they're doing things like raising parking prices or raising council tax, it's simply not enough.”
Aberdeen-based Ingerson also brings up local government cuts, which have struck the Granite City hard in recent years with the closure of libraries, leisure centres, and swimming pools.
“The North East has seen cuts to services and workers feel they aren’t being listened to,” he says. “We need someone on the top of the list who is from Mastrick (a neighborhood in Aberdeen) and has really good insight into the community.”
The just transition is also a concern for the ex-oil and gas worker, who says: “We desperately need a good plan. People need to know the timescale and need to know where the jobs are going.
“Right now, there is not a clear plan, we need to be led by the workers who are being affected.”
Asked about the rise of Reform, Ingerson says the political malaise created by mainstream parties provides the Greens with a “unique opportunity”.
He tells me: “We are well placed to pick up on disaffected voters but the key thing is we need to select the right people.
“Those attracted to Reform are people who are f***ed off” — I can quote that, he quips — “with the way the dominant parties are treating them and we have a unique opportunity to offer them an alternative.”
Maggie Chapman, who is currently involved in an internal bullying complaint lodged by Ingerson, has made similar comments.
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In her pitch to party members, she said: “As your MSP, I have consistently demanded radical change, standing firm for our values and principles. I want to continue using my voice and experience to fight for the transformations the North East desperately needs and create a fairer, more peaceful world.”
Indeed, Chapman has been a constant presence at events across the North East, protesting everything from shuttered libraries to job losses at Aberdeen University.
Chatting to me a day later, Gomersall echoes Ingerson’s language, remarking: “People are so tired of the political class, they are turning to Reform because they are scunnered with the status quo.
“When it comes to the issues working class people face, the Greens have the solutions, but that’s not cutting through to people. So we need to change the narrative and priorities surrounding the party.
On the ground, the reality is that our party is much more working class than people would expect.
“But that needs to be reflected in Holyrood.”
In a statement, Patrick Harvie praised the work of the party in the last several years, calling it the most successful period in their history.
He told The Herald: “In this session of Parliament we've delivered free bus travel for young people, wiping out school meal debt and expanding free school meals, saving people who rent their homes thousands of pounds through the rent freeze, investing in energy efficiency and increasing the Scottish Child Payment... and much of this paid for through progressive taxation that the Greens achieved, so people on high incomes pay their fair share.
“If I think back to the many long years when Greens could only campaign for change while achieving nothing, there can be zero doubt that we have been taking the right path in recent years.
“Greens are here to make a difference for people, not to be just a party of protest that gets nothing done.”
One party source said Harvie remains popular among the Greens’ “significant passive membership’ and that the race for the top spots on the Glasgow list could come down to Duane, Gomersall, Harvie and Langside councillor Holly Bruce, who was praised as having a ‘good track record which appeals to lots of our members’.
Early next month, party members will be asked to make a decision on the future of the Scottish Greens. Will they reaffirm long-time grandees or embrace fresh, working-class voices?
Their decision, whatever it may be, will reverberate through the halls of Holyrood for years to come.
