SNP's Angus Robertson spent twice as much as Greens rival in election bid but STILL lost

By TOM GORDON, SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 19:35, 16 June 2026 | Updated: 19:44, 16 June 2026 SNP cabinet minister Angus Robertson spent twice as much as his Scottish Green rival in the Holyrood election but still plunged to a humiliating defeat. The former Constitution Secretary blew more than £25,000 trying to hold his Edinburgh Central seat, most at the start of the year, official returns show. But he was pushed into third place by ex-Green minister and co-leader Lorna Slater, who spent just over £13,000 but focused on the home stretch. Mr Robertson, who ran the SNP’s campaign Scotland-wide, ultimately spent £3.25 getting each of his votes compared to Ms Slater’s £1.06 per vote. His defeat followed boundary changes adding several student areas and a campus backlash to him meeting an Israeli diplomat during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The former SNP Westminster leader was also slated at hustings for not holding regular face-to-face MSP surgeries after winning the seat from the Tories in 2021. A Scottish Green source said: ‘The more that people saw and heard from Angus, the less they wanted to vote for him. ‘That should really tell the SNP something. ‘Angus tried to tell everyone it was a two-horse race. It was. But he wasn’t one of them.’ Angus Robertson learned of his loss to Lorna Slater, right, as they shared the stage with a candidate dressed as a giant bird during the Scottish Parliament elections in May Ms Slater was the first Green to take a Scottish constituency - all the party’s previous MSPs were elected on regional lists. The election campaign was in two regulated periods - a ‘long’ one from 7 January until candidates were confirmed on 26 March, and a ‘short’ one from there to 7 May. In Edinburgh Central, the total spending limit was £36,473. Mr Robertson spent £13,273 on the long campaign followed by £11,753 in the short one, a total of £25,026. Most of the cash - £18,860 - went on leaflets and other ‘unsolicited material to voters’, with a further £5,317 on advertising, most of it on Facebook. Former SNP MP Stewart McDonald donated £500 and former Scottish Government special adviser Colin Pyle £2,000 to Mr Robertson’s doomed campaign. In contrast, Ms Slater saved her money for the final weeks, spending just £1,055 at the start of the year, or 8 per cent of Mr Robertson’s outlay. She then sprinted past him in the second leg, spending £12,376 in the run-up to polling day, £14.50 shy of the legal cap, for a grand total of £13,431. Most of her spending - £12,103 - was on leaflets, followed by £1,327 on advertising. Mr Robertson’s share of the vote collapsed from 41.2 to 21.9 per cent and his 2021 majority of 4,262 was flipped into a Green one of 4,582. Labour’s James Dalgleish was second despite out-spending Ms Slater on £18,087, or £2.23 per vote. An SNP source said: ‘Angus was told off at hustings for neglecting the seat. To get beaten by someone as hopeless as Slater tells you a lot.’ Other files show ‘trans Tamil migrant’ Q Manivannan used their full name on paperwork. Mr Robertson congratulates Ms Slater who won despite spending half the amount he did On an expenses declaration for the Edinburgh and Lothians list, the Green MSP signed their birth name ‘Srivatsan Manivannan’ rather than the affectation Q. An SNP spokesman said: ‘The SNP is backed by supporters from across Scotland and won a landslide victory the length and breadth of Scotland. ‘The Westminster parties had nothing to offer the people of Scotland and they were punished by the public accordingly.’ No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.