Greens name candidate for Kirkcaldy constituency at General Election

Local activist Mags Hall will stand for the party and go up against current MP, Neale Hanvey, and Lesley Backhouse who is representing the SNP. Labour have yet to announce the fate of their candidate Wilma Brown - suspended after a backlash over social media posts - while the Tories and Lib Dems have yet to announce candidates.

Hall was one of three local Green candidates unveiled at a launch event in Dunfermline attended by co-leader, Lorna Slater. She has been a long-time campaigner for a Just Transition for Mossmorran and stood for the Cowdenbeath constituency at the Scottish Parliament elections in 2021.

She said: “For 14 years, communities in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy have borne some of the worst consequences of Tory austerity, from cruel benefits cuts to the hollowing out of funding for our public services. Meanwhile the out and out climate denial coming from Westminster means Fife is missing out on the investment and jobs that should be coming with our transition to renewable energy.

The climate crisis affects all of us, but if we get this right we can all benefit from switching to cleaner energy, warmer homes, and more affordable low carbon transport.

“That’s why I was so delighted when the Scottish Greens recently secured a new Just Transition board for the plant at Mossmorran, which will bring workers, trade unions, operators and the local community together to map out how we can retain and boost jobs in the area whilst switching operations at the plant to a low-carbon future.

“And with the announcement recently of two major wind turbine developers planning on setting up shop, I’ll be campaigning to ensure Burntisland is one of the sites they consider. Well paid, long term jobs building and maintaining offshore infrastructure will be the future of our ports in Fife, not the tax dodging free ports model proposed by others.

“I look forward to using this campaign to lay out the Scottish Green’s vision of a fairer, greener, independent Scotland, one which plays a welcoming role in the global community and with climate and social justice at the heart of Government.”