Trans Green Party candidate with no British visa elected to Holyrood

[IwantToRetire]

Q Manivannan, who identifies as non-binary, was elected as an MSP on the Edinburgh & Lothians East list for the pro-independence Scottish Greens.

It was reported earlier this week that the former PhD student has appealed to colleagues for £2,089 of funding for a temporary graduate visa.

This would give the anthropologist and poet a further three years to work and live in the UK, picking up the taxpayer-funded MSP salary of £77,711.

Manivannan is said to have told colleagues this would help buy time to save up the £5,047 cost of applying for a global talent visa, the UK immigration category for promising individuals in specific sectors.

The self-described “queer Tamil immigrant” was only able to stand in the election after SNP ministers loosened the rules over who could be a Holyrood candidate.

Full article https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/09/trans-green-party-candidate-migrant-elected-holyrood/
And at https://archive.is/LhZYy

Reform couldn't have dreamed for a better headline!

Good grief. Try reading that post again because this interpretation is “unexpected” to say the least.

The Greens also tackle animal-welfare issues other parties may not even think about. A couple of examples:

Greyhound racing has recently been banned in Scotland thanks to a Scottish Greens bill. In recent years they successfully passed a bill banning the use of snare and glue animal traps. An attempt to ban dog shock-collars was made but was unsuccessful.

Then you wouldn’t have voted for them!

Greyhound racing has recently been banned in Scotland thanks to a Scottish Greens bill.
There hasn't been any greyhound racing anymore when this bill came in. It had died a natural death because of lack of interest already.
This all just distracts from the big environmental issue we have, it's moronic

I think the extremes just like antagonising the other side. They don’t want to make things better for the average person but just get into a fight.

0/10 for reading comprehension.

You are suggesting the individual is lying about having a doctorate

I have done no such thing. I said the news reports said two different things. Some said he was a PhD student, others that he already has his PhD. Both can't be true, so at least one news source is incorrect. I made no comment on what he's said, because I don't think I've seen a direct quote from him about this.

suggesting they are not following the laws regarding citizenship

I can't even speculate where this allegation comes from. I have not suggested anything about his following of the laws regarding citizenship.

As far as I am aware they are here legally and the soon to expire visa can be legally replaced with a relevant one for working.

Nobody has suggested that he's not here legally at present. My understanding is that he's here legally on a temporary student visa which is about to expire. This visa could potentially be replaced with a new one, but it's possible that his application could be refused.

"it's not because he's "trans/non-binary and Indian""
Yes of course it is.

So now you're calling me a liar. I don't care what he calls himself or how he self identifies (as long as he stays out of women-only spaces). It's because he's a foreign national with no permanent right to live in the UK.

If you want to be governed by foreign nationals living outside the UK, go ahead and vote Green. I don't.

Inane comments dont deserve a response!

Just as a personal point of anecdote (and not in any way any sort of meaningful data) I had thought that the Greens always prioritised the environment. That was the primary concern - or so I thought.

"How have they “turned out” that’s different from how they were before this election?"

I think that a large part of the issue is perception. Many people's perceptions of the Greens have mostly not changed from what they were ten, or even five, years ago.

The Green party of today is fundamentally different from the Green party of ten years ago. For many supporters, they likely don't realise how much the party has changed.

However, I will certainly accept that the very new supporters of the Green party over the last few years are very much committed to this new Green party that exists today.

Although there is still a lot of argument going on internally (and also very expensive legal cases about how party members have been unlawfully treated) which show that, for example, there is no one settled view within the party about how it should treat women and Jewish people.

Councillors being suspended for racism is a functioning democratic system self-healing after Reform failed to carry out due diligence on their candidates. This is amusing, but not alarming.

An Indian national without ILR being allowed to stand as an MSP, and could easily end up being sent home to India whilst still being an MSP, yet this is apparently within the rules. This recent rule change is a defect in Scottish democracy and is very alarming. That he's likely to have an anti-woman agenda compounds our concerns.

It news to the people in Scotland that 'diversity' extends to foreign nationals being needed to run Scotland. Just because the Green are over represented on the foreign national front doesn't mean the people think they are needed. There's not much point in calling for independence from 1 nation, so Scotland can run they're own affairs, if you need to outsource the running of a newly independent Scotland to foreign nationals.
The fact that he's a batshit crazy, grifting 'trans' layabout is irreverent

The trans thing isn’t relevant here

the transient tenure is

Which Green Party?

The (Scottish) Green Party that is more concerned about trans rights and Gaza than the environment. Two of them were sworn in wearing a keffiyeh.

https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/extremist-scottish-greens-make-mockery-37154928.amp

Do you speak for the other poster? Are are you the same poster that I asked the question to? Because that poster was clearly posting about the Green Party of England and Wales.

So you either got your user names mixed up or, for some reason, feel the need to reply on behalf of other people, both of which constitute very strange behaviour.

I have reread Another2Cats post and I can't see where she says she talks about E+W Greens. Where does she specify that?

https://www.google.com/search?q=green+party+antisemitism&oq=green+party+anti&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCggGEAAYxwMYgAQyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIKCAYQABjHAxiABDIHCAcQABiABDIKCAgQABjHAxiABDIHCAkQABiABNIBCDk2MjNqMGo3qAIIsAIB8QUn2FmqiyY_KQ&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

https://www.google.com/search?q=green+party+women%27s+rights&sca_esv=2690c648d5ff5382&sxsrf=ANbL-n66c2tPYDuJETpL0Kh9nV7_vaZJuQ%3A1779021040721&ei=8LQJarTiK_e_hbIP0trJ2Ac&biw=1229&bih=556&oq=green+party+womens+rights&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiGWdyZWVuIHBhcnR5IHdvbWVucyByaWdodHMqAggAMgkQABiABBgKGAsyBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMggQABgWGB4YCjILEAAYFhgeGMcDGAoyCxAAGIAEGIoFGIYDMgsQABiABBiKBRiGAzILEAAYgAQYigUYhgMyCBAAGIAEGKIESIZWUJAFWMU5cAF4AJABAJgB1QOgAZ48qgEKMS4yLjguMTEuM7gBAcgBAPgBAZgCEaACwirCAgoQIxiABBiKBRgnwgIIEAAYgAQYxwPCAgQQABgDwgIFEAAYgATCAg0QABiABBgUGIcCGLEDwgIIEAAYgAQYsQPCAgsQABiABBiKBRiRAsICChAAGIAEGBQYhwLCAgcQABiABBgKmAMAiAYBkgcJMS4wLjcuNi4zoAeYnwGyBwkxLjAuNy42LjO4B8IqwgcEMi0xN8gHP4AIAQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

I have gone through all of Another3cats on this thread and I cannot see where she has linked to this.

That's because she didn't. Jesus. It was obvious from her post about women and jewish members which party she was talking about and it wasn't the SGP.

Some of us don't require links because we know what is actually happening in politics.

So you are making stuff up?

And there never will be in Scotland if anyone has any ideas about making a revival. There was still one active track when the bill was put forward, and around a decade ago a new track was planned to be build in Central Scotland which didn't go ahead thanks to protesting.

Wales banned it too. Now the focus and pressure can be put on England and Ireland who are amongst very few countries in the world who still permit the cruel sport. Maybe we can take a look at the cruelty in horse racing too. It isn't an easy task though since animal racing is controlled and enjoyed by very rich people.

Dogs like running yes, but not together in tight packs where they can break their legs if they collide with each other or the barrier. I'm sure they also like to run on their own accord rather than the conditions that come with racing.

I speak for myself, on a thread about the Scottish Greens at Holyrood.

Though both parties have the same problems.

Yes. I completely made up the fact that the Green Party of England and Wales have problems regarding GC females and males and jewish members, whereas the SGP don't. I even managed to get google to make it all up too! I'm not replying to you again as it's like trying to catch smoke.

So you got it wrong while speaking on behalf of another poster. Well done for admitting it. Hopefully lesson learned.

Geeez, Maggie Chapman doesn't even know is she is a woman.