Independent Green Voice (IGV) is a minor

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

political party in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Founded by Alistair McConnachie, it was registered with the Electoral Commission in March 2003. Following the party's performance at the

2021 Scottish Parliament election The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021 under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. It was the sixth Scottish Parliament election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. 129 Member of the Scottish Parliament, ...

, there were suggestions that voters may have confused IGV with the

Scottish Greens The Scottish Greens (also known as the Scottish Green Party; ) are a green political party in Scotland. The party has 7 MSPs of 129 in the Scottish Parliament, the party holds 35 of the 1226 councillors at Scottish local Government level. The ...

and voted for IGV in error. It was speculated that this could have cost the Scottish Greens two seats in the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

Overview

Independent Green Voice was founded by Alistair McConnachie, a far-right activist and former Scottish organiser for the

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of parliament (both through defect ...

(UKIP). UKIP refused to renew his membership for questioning

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, following comments denying the use of gas chambers to execute jews. In 2012, McConnachie founded a pro-Union group called 'A Force for Good'. It was also reported that two candidates, Max Dunbar and John Robertson, were former BNP activists.

2021 Scottish Parliament

On 23 March 2021, the part
registered
a new emblem with the Electoral Commission that consists of an image of a leaf and the words "Independent Green Voice" in capital letters, with "Green" being in a larger font than "Independent" or "Voice". Following the results of the

and the party's surprise performance, there were suggestions that voters may have confused IGV with the

and voted for IGV in error. The Scottish Greens were 1,000 votes short of gaining a list seat in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

(where IGV received 2,210 votes) and 100 votes short of gaining one in South Scotland (where IGV received 1,690 votes). The Scottish Greens reported that they had complained to the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

about the name when IGV was first registered, although reports note they did not raise concerns about the emblem prior to the election. On 22 May 2021, the Electoral Commission ruled out a review of the name or emblem, stating "''No concerns were raised with us in relation to this application to add an emblem to a long-registered party. We are satisfied that there are clear and sufficient differences betwee the two party's registered names, descriptions and emblems to avoid confusion.''"

Electoral history

Scottish Parliament

References

{{Political parties in Scotland Far-right political parties in the United Kingdom Far-right politics in Scotland Political parties established in 2003 Political parties in Scotland Unionism in Scotland Holocaust denial in the United Kingdom Ecofascism