FOLLOWING yet another defection this week, Argyll and Bute Council no longer have any Green Party representation within the local authority.
Councillor Luna Martin, who was elected to the Oban North and Lorn ward for the Scottish Greens in 2022, officially defected to the SNP this week.
A member of the council’s SNP-led administration, as the Policy Lead for Climate Change, Biodiversity and Gaelic, Councillor Martin issued a statement on Tuesday regarding her defection.
She explained: My politics has been shaped by my belief that Scotland’s future is as a country which values diversity and inclusion.
Whilst the Scottish Green Party have rightly highlighted the challenges facing our environment, including from climate change, the changing political landscape and the rise of Reform poses a real threat to the society that we enjoy.
I will always be grateful to the Scottish Greens for the support they have given me, but I have taken the decision, after careful consideration, to join the SNP, who share my vision for an independent Scotland and are the strongest alternative to Reform.
Councillor Martin’s defection makes it two to the SNP, as at the start of this year Lomond North ward councillor Mark Irvine, who was elected as an independent in 2022, also defected to the party.
