Scottish MSP eligibility rules face calls for change after Green’s election

Malcolm Offord and Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay urged First Minister John Swinney to change the rules that allowed Q Manivannan to be elected to the Scottish Parliament. Manivannan, a Scottish Green MSP elected in May, is neither a British citizen nor a permanent resident; the author argues that MSPs deliberately opened this route in 2024 and criticises the parties that backed it.

Swinney rejected Offord’s claim that the rules reflected a “cosy consensus” across parties, accusing Reform of trying to set citizens against non-citizens and pointing to links between Reform and the Conservatives. Findlay warned that hostile states might try to place people in Parliament, while Green leader Ross Greer challenged Swinney over climate policy. The article is a sharply opinionated account of the debate, with personal criticism of the politicians involved.