THE SNP have shifted their position on oil and gas in recent years, calling for the windfall tax – also known as the Energy Profits Levy – to be axed for North Sea producers, under John Swinney’s leadership.
While the First Minister hasn’t gone so far as to say there should be more drilling for fossil fuels in Scottish waters – climate compatibility tests must be met before a decision is made is the current position – that hasn’t stopped some of his MSPs shifting the dial further away from a presumption against such drilling.
Jack Middleton, the SNP MSP for Aberdeen Central, called for Jackdaw and Rosebank oil and gas fields to be approved by the UK Government earlier this month.
While currently a backbencher, Middleton was a special adviser to both Humza Yousaf and Swinney, before he won his seat at the 2026 election.
The SNP’s climate credentials have now come under scrutiny from Nicola Sturgeon, who has warned in the new foreword for the paperback version of her memoir Frankly, that it would be a “massive electoral blunder…for the SNP to soften its left-of-centre environmentalist credentials”.
Notably, when Sturgeon was first minister, she wrote to Boris Johnson in 2021 and urged him not to allow production to go ahead in the Cambo oil field.
Five years later and the SNP are moving further and further away from that position as they seek to claw back voters in one of the main hubs for the industry, after the recent by-election loss to the Tories in Aberdeen South.
But Sturgeon’s warning was that this shift will only see the party lose votes to the Scottish Greens, who have remained steadfast in their position that there should be no more drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea, and that the focus should instead be on renewable energy.
The Scottish Greens certainly put a dent in the SNP vote at the last Holyrood election; winning two constituencies in what would largely be regarded as solid SNP territory, including Sturgeon’s own seat in Glasgow Southside, which was won by Holly Bruce. Lorna Slater also won in Edinburgh Central over former constitution secretary Angus Robertson.
In Glasgow Kelvin and Maryhill, Greens candidate Iris Duane ran Bob Doris close. Doris won with 11,174 votes, but Duane wasn’t far behind with 9003.
The Scottish Greens also doubled their number of MSPs, while the SNP dropped by 6 MSPs to 58.
When we look at vote share overall, the SNP’s decreased by 9.5% at the constituency level and 13.2% at the regional level. The Scottish Greens saw a 1% increase at the constituency level, and a 5.9% increase on the regional list.
However, the Tories and Labour also saw a drop in support, while Reform and the LibDems saw an increase.
While it can’t be guaranteed that Sturgeon’s assessment is accurate, the SNP’s shifting position on the topic while the Greens remain steadfast could be drawing a line between the two progressive independence supporting parties in voters minds.
