Scottish Green MSP Q Manivannan granted three-year visa extension

Q Manivannan, the controversial Indian transgender activist who became a Scottish Green MSP in May without standing for election, has been granted a new visa by the Home Office. His three-year graduate visa upgrade is being seen as a temporary reprieve in an ongoing controversy over whether foreign nationals without permanent residency should be allowed to serve as legislators. However, the extension still leaves him unable to guarantee he will complete the full five-year parliamentary term, continuing to fuel debate about electoral law.

The 30-year-old, now earning £77,711 as an MSP, had been serving on a temporary student visa following his move to Scotland in 2021 to study for a PhD in international relations. He was placed third on the Scottish Greens' list of top-up candidates under proportional representation rules, despite being rejected by voters in an Edinburgh council ward election last year. Opposition figures including Scottish Conservative Stephen Kerr have criticised the arrangement as an "electoral con", arguing that the three-year visa still fails to resolve the fundamental problem that voters have no certainty of his remaining in office for the duration of Parliament.