Lorna Slater (born 27 September 1975) is a Canadian politician in Scotland, who served as Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity in the Scottish Government from 2021 to 2024.
[5] In 2000, a month after she was due to graduate, she purchased a one-way ticket to Glasgow and planned to travel across Europe for two years, but ended up staying in Scotland.
[13] In April 2019, in a City of Edinburgh Council by-election for the Leith Walk ward, she took a 25.5 per cent share of first preference votes, finishing second.
[14] She was co-convener of the Scottish Greens Operations Committee when she was named second on the list of the party's candidates for the 2019 European Parliament election.
[8] On 1 August 2019, the results were announced and Slater replaced Maggie Chapman as the female co-leader (formerly co-convenor).
Slater became a prominent figure in the lead up to the Scottish parliamentary election, with her being featured in TV Debates and interviews.
[17] Slater stood as the Greens' candidate for the Edinburgh Northern and Leith constituency in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
[18] Although Slater was unsuccessful in winning the constituency, she was second on the party list vote for the Lothian region, and was elected as an additional member.
She also called on for the parliament to build a case for Scotland to leave the United Kingdom and believes the nation should vote again in another independence referendum.
A fair and green Scotland that is in charge of its own destiny.On 10 June 2021, a picture was shared on social media which showed Slater and other members of the Greens, including co-leader Patrick Harvie and MSP for West Scotland Ross Greer, breaching social distancing measures.
However, The Scottish Sun reported that Slater, Harvie, Greer and another Green Party member were pictured at a bar in Edinburgh.
[22] In August 2021 after weeks of talks, she was at Bute House with co-leader Patrick Harvie and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to announce a power-sharing agreement that would see the Green party in government for the first time in the United Kingdom.
She and Harvie are the first Green Party politicians in both Scottish and UK political history to serve in government.
Greenpeace said such, "a shambolic delay to the long awaited deposit return scheme is embarrassing for a government which loves to shout about its green credentials.
"[42]In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election campaign, Slater's fellow co-leader, Patrick Harvie proposed two new national parks for Scotland.
[45] Slater argues the bill targets “lazy, anti-social behaviour” and the country's growing “throw away culture” by introducing further regulation on waste disposal.