Axed minister Lorna Slater to stand again as Green co-leader despite botched deposit return scheme

Lorna Slater intends to hang onto the top job at the election next year.

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Axed minister Lorna Slater is planning to stand again as co-leader of the Green party despite being at the centre of the botched deposit return scheme costing taxpapers millions of pounds.

The controversial MSP for Lothian, who waste management company Biffa blamed for the DRS fiasco, has made it clear she intends to hang onto the top job at the election next year.

But the Sunday Mail understands that many in the party are unhappy she is determined to remain in the leadership role.

One senior party source said: “Lorna has been making it clear internally that she’s planning to run again next year for the co-leader position.

“Patrick hasn’t said anything yet but undoubtedly he will or he will let Ross Greer take over.

“I think after the events of the last three years it might be time for new leadership and a fresh look at things instead of continuing with the same people who are not capable of leading any longer.

“It’s time that the party had a complete restructure and new talents and voices are allowed to come through instead of continuing with the same people who have got us into this mess in the first place.

“The general election campaign for example was a disaster. We barely did anything for the first three weeks as we weren’t organised.

“If we want to capitalise on the support for independence and the decline in the SNP we need new leadership and Lorna Slater is not it.”

Slater became party co-leader in 2019 joining Harvie who was appointed in 2008.

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The pair were fired from the Scottish Government by former First Minster Humza Yousaf in April after the SNP leader scrapped the Bute House Agreement.

As Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity minister Slater was in charge of the abandoned DRS scheme.

But she has consistently refused to take responsibility for the disasterous policy, blaming the UK government for failing to grant an exemption so Scotland could include glass.

Biffa, appointed to collect all the recycled containers on a 10-year deal expected to make more than £100 million profit and is currently suing the Scottish Government.

The firm, who bought around 200 new trucks and had started recruiting staff when Slater ditched the scheme have named her in court papers.

They said they relied on personal assurances from Slater as reason to invest £55million in vehicles and equipment. for not revealing the possibility of UK government intervention

The firm are seeking to claw back £200 million in investment and profits after spending £65m in preparation for the scheme.

The scheme administrator for the scheme, DRS Circularity Scotland, then collapsed with debts and liabilities of over £86 million.

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SNP grandee Fergus Ewing said: “One must ask why a newbie MSP with no Ministerial experience was placed in charge of a hellishly complex scheme with a net cost over 25 years of £1,800m. Would any business have put a trainee manager in charge of a billion pound project?”

The MSP for Inverness and Nairn was then disciplined by his own party for voting to remove Slater on grounds of incompetence.

Businesses had warned the Scottish government they’d prefer to wait for a UK-wide scheme to be set up to make it easier to manage customers’ returns.

The DRS aimed to boost recycling rates and give people 20p for every empty container they brought back to shops.

Lorna Slater did not respond to our request for comment.

A party spokesman said: “The Scottish Greens are a democratic party and any member can stand to be one of our two co-leaders.

“We have made significant electoral and political progress in recent years, with record election results in 2021, 2022, and most recently the 2024 general election.

“All party members can join the debate about the next steps for our party and take part in the process of electing our co-leaders during the scheduled biennial leadership election next year.”

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