Ross Greer

Ross John Greer (born 1 June 1994) is a Scottish Green Party politician who is a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the West Scotland region. Greer is the youngest ever MSP, elected at the 2016 election.

This article is about the politician. For the footballer, see Ross Greer (footballer).

Ross Greer

MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for West Scotland
Assumed office
5 May 2016
Preceded byStewart Maxwell
Personal details
Born (1994-06-01) 1 June 1994
NationalityScottish
Political partyScottish Green Party
Other political
affiliations		Yes Scotland
(2012–2014)
ResidenceMilngavie, Scotland
EducationHigh school; did not finish at University of Strathclyde

Education

Greer was educated at Bearsden Academy, leaving in 2012.[1][2] In S3 he led a successful coup against the older pupils in S6 who ran the Eco-Committee but never turned up.[3]

Greer was a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, representing the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency 2011–13.[4] Greer joined the Scottish Green party at age 15 years.[5]

He took part in the Debating Matters competition in 2012, where he reached the National Final.[6]

He began a course of study at the University of Strathclyde, in psychology & politics, but left without graduating in December 2012 to work for Yes Scotland as their Communities Co-ordinator during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.[6]

Political career

During the campaign ahead of the referendum he was Yes Scotland's youth and student co-ordinator. and was the communities co-ordinator at the pro-independence campaign Yes Scotland during the independence referendum campaign.[7] After the referendum, he was employed by the Greens in a role that involved strategy development.[8]

He stood as the Scottish Green candidate in the East Dunbartonshire constituency in the 2015 United Kingdom general election, securing 5th place with 804 votes (1.5%).[5] He became the Scottish Greens' party spokesman on Europe and external affairs.[9]

In March 2015, the Scottish Greens announced that Greer had been selected as the lead candidate for their West of Scotland regional list, following a ballot of their members.[10]

Ahead of the 2016 elections, 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%) to the West Scotland regional list as an additional member. Greer was elected at the age of 21 years old, making him 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.[1]

On 29th January 2019, Greer posted a tweet calling Winston Churchill a “white supremacist mass murderer.” He went on daytime TV and was challenged on his views.

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References
  1. Davidson, Jenni (6 May 2016). "Youngest ever MSP elected for the Scottish Greens". Holyrood.
  2. "Greer is unveiled as the Green Party's Westminster hope". Bearsden & Milngavie Herald. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  3. Greer, Ross (16 May 2020). "Ross Greer tweet". Twitter. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  4. Bowden, George (6 May 2016). "Scottish Election Results: Greens' Ross Greer Becomes Youngest MSP". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  5. Coutts, Eva (6 May 2016). "Holyrood 2016: Greens' Ross Greer, 21, becomes youngest MSP". The Scotsman. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  6. "People: Ross Greer". www.debatingmatters.com. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  7. Belgutay, Julia (13 September 2013). "Why teachers need to cast a vote for clarity". TESS. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  8. "Election 2016: Scottish Green Ross Greer elected youngest ever MSP at 21 on West of Scotland list". The Herald. Glasgow. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  9. "Scottish Greens consider pro-Europe campaign". The Scotsman. 27 September 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  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.
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