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// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Ross Greer a gardener? He's a greer-at one.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ross Greer
MSP
Greer in 2022
Co-leader of the Scottish Greens
Incumbent
Assumed office
29 August 2025
Serving with Gillian Mackay
Preceded byPatrick Harvie
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for West Scotland
(1 of 7 Regional MSPs)
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 May 2016
Personal details
BornRoss John Greer
1994 or 1995 (age 31–32)
Dunbartonshire, Scotland
PartyScottish Greens
Other political
affiliations
Scottish Youth Parliament (2011–2013)
Yes Scotland (2012–2014)
EducationBearsden Academy
Alma materUniversity of Strathclyde (dropped out)
OccupationPolitician

Ross John Greer (born 1994 or 1995[1]) is a Scottish politician who has served as co-leader of the Scottish Greens since August 2025.[2] He has also been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the West Scotland region since 2016. A member of the Scottish Greens, he was the youngest MSP elected in the 2016 election.

Early life and career

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Greer was educated at Bearsden Academy, leaving in 2012.[3][4] Greer was a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, representing the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency 2011–13.[5] Greer joined the Scottish Greens at the age of 15.[6] He took part in the Debating Matters competition in 2012, where he reached the national final.[7]

Greer studied politics and psychology at Strathclyde University, but left his studies in December 2012 after being recruited by Yes Scotland to be their communities co-ordinator for the forthcoming Scottish independence referendum.[8] Following the referendum, Greer was employed by the Scottish Greens in a role involving campaigns communications and fundraising.[9]

Political career

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Ross Greer in 2016

Greer stood as the Scottish Green candidate in the East Dunbartonshire constituency in the 2015 general election, securing 5th place with 804 votes (1.5%).[6] He became the Scottish Greens' party spokesman on Europe and external affairs.[9] In March 2015, the Scottish Greens announced Greer had been selected as the lead candidate for their West Scotland regional list, following a ballot of their members.[10]

Member of the Scottish Parliament

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Ahead of the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, Greer was critical that the general level of engagement with 16 and 17-year-olds as first-time voters had been below what was seen in the referendum.[11] On 6 May 2016, he was elected with 17,218 votes (5.3%) as an additional member for the West Scotland region. Elected at the age of 21 years old, he became Scotland's youngest MSP.[12] Before Greer was elected, the youngest MSP had previously been Labour's Mark Griffin, who was 25 years old when he was first elected in 2011.[3] On 22 May, he was appointed the Scottish Greens' spokesperson for International Development and External Affairs, Education and Skills, and Culture and Media.[13]

In line with Scottish Green policy, Greer supports an independent Scotland signing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and is opposed to joining NATO. [14]

On 25 January 2019, Greer posted a tweet calling Winston Churchill "a white supremacist mass murderer." He later appeared on Good Morning Britain and Politics Live and was challenged on his views.[15][16] A few years earlier, Greer had been criticised in The Sun after tweeting that "Imperial Britain was happy to live with Hitler" in reference to the policy of Appeasement.[17]

As the Scottish Green's Finance Spokesperson, Greer secured free bus travel for all under-22s in Scotland as a condition of the 2020 Scottish Budget deal with the SNP.[18] The scheme launched in January 2022. The Young Scot National Entitlement Card has been used for over 300 million bus journeys since the scheme has launched, with over 80% of those eligible owning one.[19]

In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Greer was re-elected with 26,632 votes (7.1%) as an additional member for the West Scotland region.[20]

In 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Greer violated local restrictions by visiting a pub in Edinburgh along with party co-leaders Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie and a fourth person.[21]

Starting in August 2021, Greer served as the Green liasion in the Bute House Agreement to the SNP and Scottish Government, meeting with the then Deputy First Minister of Scotland John Swinney fortnightly, to coordinate policy priorities and parliamentary strategy.[22][23] While not a formal coalition, the arrangement became the first time in both British and Scottish politics for any Green party to serve ministerial positions, with Co-leaders, Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie both becoming junior ministers in Nicola Sturgeon's cabinet.[24]

In 2022, Greer published FOI requests revealing that families in Scotland owed over £1 million in unpaid school meal bills.[25] Following his campaign, the Scottish Government committed approximately £3 million in late 2023 to clear public school meal debts.[26][27]

Greer opposed the appointment of Kate Forbes as Deputy First Minister of Scotland due to her conservative stance on LGBT rights.[28][29]

In the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, Greer was re-elected with 41,372 votes (12.4%) as an additional member for the West Scotland region, alongside Reform UK's Scottish leader Malcolm Offord, as well as fellow Green, Cara McKee.[30]

Scottish Green co-leadership

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In July 2025, Greer announced he was running for Co-leadership of the Scottish Greens.[31] During the campaign, Greer revealed that he had considered resigning from both the party and the Scottish Parliament due to consistent internal leaking and hostility. He noted that the leaks began during his time as the lead negotiator for the Bute House Agreement in 2021, included details regarding his personal security, causing him severe stress that resulted in two hospitalisations for chest pain.[32] On August 29, 2025, the party announced that Greer had won the leadership contest, along with his fellow MSP Gillian Mackay.[2]

Personal life

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In 2019, Greer was criticised for a tweet he posted when he was attending Bearsden Academy, in June 2012 which read "I'm not exaggerating when I say nothing would thrill me more than for Buckingham Palace to burn to the ground."[17]

Greer is gay and a member of the Church of Scotland.[29][33]

References

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  1. ↑ "Greens' Ross Greer becomes youngest MSP". BBC News. 6 May 2016. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay elected Scottish Greens co-leaders". BBC News. 29 August 2025. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  3. 1 2 Davidson, Jenni (6 May 2016). "Youngest ever MSP elected for the Scottish Greens". Holyrood.
  4. ↑ "Greer is unveiled as the Green Party's Westminster hope". Bearsden & Milngavie Herald. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  5. ↑ Bowden, George (6 May 2016). "Scottish Election Results: Greens' Ross Greer Becomes Youngest MSP". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  6. 1 2 Coutts, Eva (6 May 2016). "Holyrood 2016: Greens' Ross Greer, 21, becomes youngest MSP". The Scotsman. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "People: Ross Greer". www.debatingmatters.com. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Anon. (6 May 2016). "Election 2016: Scottish Green Ross Greer elected youngest ever MSP at 21 on West of Scotland list". The Herald. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  9. 1 2 Greer, Ross. "LinkedIn profile of Ross Greer". LinkedIn. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  10. ↑ "Scottish Greens regional list candidates". Holyrood. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  11. ↑ Brooks, Libby (3 May 2016). "Don't patronise us, Scottish teenagers tell politicians bidding for their votes". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  12. ↑ "Greens' Ross Greer becomes youngest MSP". BBC News. 6 May 2016.
  13. ↑ "Scottish Greens announce portfolios of new Holyrood group". HeraldScotland. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  14. ↑ McCall, Chris (10 February 2021). "Independent Scotland should delay NATO membership until nuclear weapons removed". Daily Record. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  15. ↑ Record Reporter (29 January 2019). "Piers Morgan branded 'snowflake' by Ross Greer during live TV tantrum". Daily Record. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  16. ↑ "MSP Ross Greer brands Churchill 'mass murderer'". BBC News. 28 January 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  17. 1 2 "Right-wing media are REALLY unhappy with Ross Greer over Churchill tweet". The National. 30 January 2019.
  18. ↑ "Scottish budget 2020-21: Free bus travel in SNP-Green deal". BBC News. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  19. ↑ "Over 300 million free bus trips made by young people across Scotland | Transport Scotland". www.transport.gov.scot. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  20. ↑ "West Scotland 2021". Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  21. ↑ "Scottish Greens apologise for breaking Covid rules". BBC News. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  22. ↑ "Slater claims Forbes is 'building a particular faction' for SNP to rip up Greens deal". The Herald. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  23. ↑ "'Significant barrier if the Labour party maintained anti-democratic position'". The Herald. 9 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  24. ↑ "Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater: Who are the new Green ministers?". BBC News. 30 August 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  25. ↑ Brooks, Libby (6 June 2022). "Over £1m owed by families in Scotland who cannot pay for school meals". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  26. ↑ "£1 million school dinner debt to councils 'should be written off'". The Herald. 25 March 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  27. ↑ "Almost £3 million of school meal debt written off amid cost of living crisis". The National. 18 January 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  28. ↑ Carrell, Severin; Brooks, Libby (9 May 2024). "Kate Forbes elected Scotland deputy first minister despite Green opposition". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  29. 1 2 Billson, Chantelle (9 May 2024). "Gay MSP says homophobic abuse has got 'considerably worse'". PinkNews. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
  30. ↑ "West Scotland". BBC News. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  31. ↑ Ross Greer (10 July 2025). "I have some news to share". Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  32. ↑ Douglas Dickie (19 August 2025). "Ross Greer hospitalised twice due to bullying amid Scottish Green civil war". Scottish Daily Express. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  33. ↑ Brooks, Libby (22 May 2019). "Anger as Church of Scotland decides not to divest from fossil fuels". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
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  • Scottish Parliament profiles of MSPs: Ross Greer
  • Profile on the Scottish Greens website
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ross_Greer&oldid=1365711644"