- Councillors in North Ayrshire criticise MSP for ‘lack of involvement’ during local elections
- Mr Greene is expected to join the race to succeed Douglas Ross as leader of the Scottish Conservatives
- West Scotland MSP faces accusations his ‘liberal’ views on issues such as gender ‘don’t chime’ with local members
A Scottish Tory MSP tipped to stand for the party leadership faces being ousted by his local branch over claims of inaction and too much focus on ‘woke’ issues.
Jamie Greene, who is expected to join the race to succeed Douglas Ross, is set to be deselected as a candidate for Holyrood by local members and councillors in North Ayrshire.
Senior officials from the North Ayrshire and Arran Conservative and Unionist Association say he faces defeat if he attempts to stand as a candidate in Cunninghame North again at the next Holyrood elections in 2026.
They have already raised the issue with party officials and intend to highlight concerns with the next Scottish Tory leader, in a move which could end his Holyrood career by damaging his prospects on the party’s regional list.
Mr Greene, MSP for West Scotland, has already been axed from the Scottish Tory frontbench team – and claimed that the decision was down to his support for the SNP’s controversial gender reforms.
Tory MSP Jamie Greene faces being deselected following criticism from the chairman of his party’s North Ayrshire association over a ‘lack of involvement’ during local elections
David Rocks, chairman of the North Ayrshire association, said: ‘He’s not really been involved for the past few years with the local association in North Ayrshire.
He is a west of Scotland regional MSP, along with Pam Gosal and Russell Findlay, and there was absolutely no support during the council election or the general election either, so local members that have worked hard for him have not been pleased with the lack of involvement.
‘We’ve reached out to him in the past, there is no real bad blood or anything. It’s just there is an absence and a disconnect of communication and support, which is unfortunate.
‘Pam and Russell have been quite active in North Ayrshire and this wasn’t even the area in which they stood (as constituency candidates).
‘Certainly, as chairman, I won’t be allowing him to stand again if he wants one of these seats, and the executive committee have more or less agreed with me on that.
‘When there is a new leader of the Scottish Conservatives elected, I will write as chairman on behalf of the committee to say just how displeased we are.’
He said Mr Greene regularly spoke publicly without consulting the party’s local councillors or the local association – and highlighted his support for the Scottish Government’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. (GRR)
Mr Greene, who voted in favour of the SNP’s controversial Gender Recognition Reform bill, was also accused of being ‘more interested in social democratic issues’ than local matters
Mr Rocks said: ‘That caused an awful lot of problems because he didn’t consult me as chairman or any of the members and councillors.
He voted for it in parliament and as chairman I got quite a lot of emails from members and supporters saying they weren’t pleased at all, and was this the mood and opinion of the association?
I had to reassure them it wasn’t and Mr Greene hadn’t consulted us at all either.
‘I know it was very much a personal decision and Douglas (Ross) allowed MSPs to vote freely. But as a regional MSP you should really consult your local associations.’
He added: ‘Some of his views just don’t chime with us here either.
He is quite on the liberal side and we are a bit concerned he is more interested in social democratic issues and, dare I say, woke issues rather than local things that we focus on.
‘A lot of the MSPs from all parties are more interested in these populist things.’
On the prospect of Mr Greene becoming a candidate to become party leader, Mr Rocks said: ‘If you can’t communicate and support the area where you’ve stood before and the associations that you represent I don’t think that makes good qualities for leadership.
‘An awful lot of my councillors and members in North Ayrshire wouldn’t be pleased at all (if he became leader), to the point where they might resign.
There is a big concern there if he became leader.’
Constituency candidates are selected by local branches following a vote of members who attend a selection meeting, while the party is responsible for ranking local candidates on its regional lists.
Concerns about Mr Greene have already been raised by Mr Rocks with Mr Ross, party director James Tweedie and chairman Craig Hoy.
A North Ayrshire councillor, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: ‘The last time we saw Jamie campaign locally was at the 2021 by election. We expect more support from our MSP.
‘Then there was the contentious GRR. Jamie was massively out of step with members, the association, and councillors.
‘Following his decision to vote for the GRR the previous group leader, Councillor Tom Marshall, wrote to Jamie about his decision.
The letter highlighted a lack of engagement with local members on such a contentious subject.
‘There has never been any response to that letter, or to numerous concerns which were raised by local members on social media.
Considering the above, the reaction to reports that Jamie is being touted as a future leader of the party have been met with total astonishment.’
A source close to Mr Greene said: ‘Jamie is disappointed, but not surprised, by these comments.
The leadership contest has not begun, nor has he declared, yet some establishment figures are briefing against him.
‘Jamie has a strong track record in standing up for North Ayrshire and Arran, particularly our islands.
That hard work as a regional MSP for eight years is a matter of public record and one he is proud of.’