MSP Jamie Greene joins Lib Dems after quitting Tories

MSP Jamie Greene has defected to the Scottish Liberal Democrats, just a day after dramatically quitting the Tories.

The West Scotland MSP was unveiled as a Lib Dem at the party’s spring conference in Inverness.

He had left the Scottish Conservatives on Thursday, writing a stinging letter to party leader Russell Findlay which accused his former party of having a “Reform-lite agenda”.

The development means the Lib Dems now have five MSPs in their Holyrood group and the Tories have 30.

Mr Greene was introduced to his new party at the conference in Inverness, being greeted on stage by Scottish leader Alex Cole-Hamilton ahead of a speech by UK leader Sir Ed Davey.

Addressing the audience, Mr Greene said: “I am really happy to be here.

“As you probably spotted the last few days have been tumultuous, to say the least, in my life.

“In the last 48 hours, I’ve gone from being politically homeless like many Scots right now to joining you here today in my new home.”

Introducing Mr Greene, Mr Cole-Hamilton said that his letter “should speak to us as well”.

He said: “You will find such symmetry with our outlook and our values as a party.

“He is, without doubt, a liberal, but let me be clear, Jamie Greene is not going to be joining our party in the future because he did that this morning.”

During his resignation announcement on Thursday, Mr Greene lambasted the Scottish Conservative leadership and their advisers.

He said the party he once knew “simply no longer exists” due to shifting to the right to combat the threat of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Writing to Mr Findlay, the West Scotland MSP said: “During the leadership election last year, I warned that we were giving up on the next generation of young Scots.

“I warned that we were deserting the middle ground.

“Instead, the party now rests its hopes on a Reform-lite agenda that appeals to the worst of our society, and not the best.

“Instead of proudly leading on equality, we now run the very serious and immediate risk of becoming once again the party of social division and morality wars.”

Mr Greene has been outspoken in his support for LGBT+ rights and defied the party’s opposition to the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Last year, Mr Greene put himself forward to run for Scottish Conservative leader after Douglas Ross stepped down, but later backed Murdo Fraser’s unsuccessful bid to lead the party.

Defections during the current session of the Scottish Parliament have been rare, though Ash Regan left the SNP to join the Alba Party in 2023.