Lorna Slater
Scottish Greens co-leader who defeated SNP cabinet member Angus Robertson in Edinburgh Central on 7 May 2026.
Last refreshed: 9 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Is Slater's Edinburgh Central win a one-off upset or proof the Greens can take SNP seats?
Timeline for Lorna Slater
Slater takes Edinburgh Central from SNP
UK Local Elections 2026- Who won Edinburgh Central in the 2026 Scottish Parliament election?
- Lorna Slater (Scottish Greens) won Edinburgh Central with 12,680 votes, defeating SNP cabinet minister Angus Robertson on 7,702.Source: Lowdown / UK Elections 2026
- Who is Lorna Slater and what does she do?
- Lorna Slater is co-leader of the Scottish Greens and an MSP. A marine engineer by training, she has led the party since 2021 and won her first constituency seat at Edinburgh Central on 7 May 2026.Source: Lowdown / UK Elections 2026
- How many seats did the Scottish Greens win in the 2026 Holyrood election?
- The Scottish Greens won 16 seats in the 2026 Holyrood election, including Lorna Slater's Edinburgh Central constituency — only the second constituency seat the party has ever held.Source: Lowdown / UK Elections 2026
Background
Lorna Slater won Edinburgh Central on 12,680 votes against Angus Robertson's 7,702 on 7 May 2026, securing only the second-ever Holyrood constituency seat for the Scottish Greens and defeating a serving SNP cabinet minister in the process. The result was one of the most watched contests of the night and marked a concrete shift in how left-of-SNP votes move in urban Scotland.
Slater has co-led the Scottish Greens since 2021, sharing leadership with Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay through various transitions. An engineer by training, born in Canada and raised in New Zealand before moving to Scotland, she brought a science-based approach to the role and was the party's most prominent face during the Bute House Agreement years (2021–2024), when the Greens provided parliamentary support to the SNP government. She served as a Holyrood list MSP before winning a constituency for the first time.
Her victory matters beyond the headline result: it demonstrates that the Scottish Greens can win constituency seats, not just list seats, which changes how the party is funded, staffed, and perceived. With the Greens on 16 seats overall at Holyrood, Slater's constituency win and her continued co-leadership position the Greens as a force the SNP cannot ignore in any confidence-and-supply arrangement.