John Swinney faces calls to ban Greens from SNP conference

Scottish National Party leader John Swinney is facing growing pressure on October 12, 2026, to ban the Scottish Greens from speaking at the SNP annual conference in Aberdeen later this week. The Daily Mail reported that Swinney faces calls to cancel plans that would allow Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay to speak about Scottish independence at the event. The calls follow widespread political fallout after a Green Party policy declared Zionism to be a form of racism. [1]

The controversy follows an October 4 vote at the annual conference of the Green Party of England and Wales, where members passed a motion designating Zionism as a form of racism and calling for a single state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As FTMQ News reported earlier, senior Labour figures previously ruled out future cooperation with the party following the decision, and Green Party leader Zack Polanski has sought to change the policy. Al Jazeera reported that Polanski called for internal rule reforms in an article in The Guardian to give party leadership greater control over policy. [2][3][8][10][11]

John Swinney has served as First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party since 2024. He previously led the SNP from 2000 to 2004 and has represented Perthshire North in the Scottish Parliament since 1999. A former SNP Cabinet minister has urged Swinney to explicitly state that the SNP opposes the position adopted by the Greens, according to the Daily Mail. [1][6]

Swinney has not publicly announced whether he will alter the conference schedule or revoke the speaking invitation extended to the Scottish Greens leader ahead of the conference in Aberdeen. [1]