@scottishgreens.org CAN win Southside/Newington's council by-election today, but only if people turn out to vote! ➡️ Use your first preference for the Scottish Green Party by 10pm.

🧵 Road Safety Update: Major schemes developing in Polwarth & Merchiston! • Polwarth Junction redesign • Merchiston Ave/Rochester Terrace improvements • New Merchiston Ave/Colinton Rd project Your input shapes these plans! 👇 #Merchiston #RoadSafety

🦇 Our Scottish Bat Officer, Claudia, took @katenevens.bsky.social MSP on a bat walk last night through Hollyrood Park in Edinburgh. Kate is the Nature Champion for the soprano pipistrelle! Soprano pipistrelles were spotted! As well as common pipistrelle and Daubenton's bat. Photo (c) Ali Leetham

The Tour de France 2026 has begun and we are 1 year away from Edinburgh hosting the grand départ 🚴 After pushing the Council to introduce a ban on fossil fuel advertising, I’m aware that next year’s tour is a big moment as oil-backed sponsors will descend on the city 🌎 Read more about it below ⤵️

The petroculture peloton: part one

In this first article of a two-part investigation into cycling’s association with fossil fuel advertising, will the Tour de France’s arrival in the Scottish capital be the beginning of the end for Big...

playthegame.org

An excellent and informative set of posts on my favourite topic .. trees! This is well worth a read, if you have 5 mins 🌳

Merchiston Districts Community Council@merchistoncc.bsky.social · 3mo ago

What's happening to trees in our neighbourhood? Has the number, cover and composition of trees been changing over time? How future-proof is the system for regulating work done on trees? We've worked with an MSc student to investigate! merchistoncc.org.uk/the-past-and...

My latest blog post is now live 📢 Give it a read to find out more about my work on AI, social heating tariffs, the Quiet Route, tree watering and more (!) 🤖🏠🚲🌳📝 Find the blog here: cllrbenparker.substack.com/p/what-did-i...

Excited to be elected as the new Green group Co-Convenor alongside Alys today 👫 💚 Thank you @chasbooth.bsky.social and Kayleigh for all their work in the role for the last year 🫶 The clock is ticking towards next year’s election and I’m excited to Co-Convene the group through this busy period 🕰️ 🗳️

The Edinburgh Reporter@edinreporter.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Edinburgh Greens group select new leadership team After a lunchtime meeting on Monday, the Green group on Edinburgh council have chosen two new co-conveners to head up the group from today onwards. They are Cllr Alys Mumford and Cllr Ben Parker who previously acted as Co-Conveners for the group…

How many Green MSPs in Edinburgh & East Lothian ?

An amazing result for Edinburgh and Lothians East! Not only Edinburgh's first constituency win but also the first time we've had 4 MSPs in the region. This is a massive tribute to our remarkable volunteers. A huge thanks to everyone who voted Green- now is the time to join! greens.scot/join

Today we launched our 2026 manifesto! 🟢 Want free bus travel for everyone? 🟢 Want accessible and affordable childcare? 🟢 Want to tackle the climate emergency? 🟢 Want to tax the rich? We've got you covered. Read the manifesto at: www.greens.scot/LetsDemandBetter

I know passionate supporters of LGBTQ+ equality in Labour who have felt increasingly marginalised in the party and unable to support the leadership's view. But to see the manifesto include anti-trans policies rejected by their own party conference must surely be the last straw for many.

Scottish Labour Against Bigotry@slabcampaign.bsky.social · 5mo ago

At Scottish Labour Conference in Feb 2025, a leadership-backed motion to adopt a transphobic policy on single-sex spaces in schools was defeated. Party members and affiliates voted it down. Today Scottish Labour's leadership put that transphobic policy into its manifesto for May's election anyway.

Excited about the prospect of electing more socialist, feminist and climate-conscious voices to Scottish Parliament next month?! There are loads of ways to help... @edinburghgreens.bsky.social @qmanivannan.bsky.social @lornaslater.bsky.social

"Prisons are not safe, they're violent, they're poor for people's health and wellbeing, particularly if you're a woman. And they fail to support rehabilitation. "So actually they do not make those of us who are not breaking the law safer either." Scotland's prison system should be abolished.

Euan@euan.bsky.social · 5mo ago

I love how obviously reasonable the policy is described here before the paragraph saying that Labour, the SNP, Tories, and Reform all think it’s insane www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Today, the transport committee made a big decision about the future of the Quiet Route I’m pleased that we are finally (!) seeing progress which will (hopefully) see the retention of the route with all active travel measures intact 🚲🌳🚶 Read more on my blog 📝: open.substack.com/pub/cllrbenp...

I’ve had lots of contact about the Greenbank-Meadows Quiet Route 🚲 recently following the Standards Commission decision to censure two Cllrs over their participation in previous decision-making about the route 🙅‍♂️🗺️📍 At Thursday’s Transport committee I will be presenting proposals for next steps ⤵️

Budget Day in Edinburgh and it seems - as in past years - Labour will be teaming up with the Tories to get their budget passed😒 It's depressing when other parties put their own interests above those of the city, but Green Cllrs will continue to fight for public money to be spent for public good ✊

On Thursday, Edinburgh City Council will be setting its budget - find out what the Green Councillors have proposed in their budget for climate, equality and housing justice: edinburgh.greens.scot/blog/a-budge...

My latest blog to capture some of my work at the end of last year and January is now published 📝 Lots of speaking engagements and work on public debt, sustainable drainage and Ramadan provisions in temporary accommodation, plus more! 💬💷🌳🏠 cllrbenparker.substack.com/p/what-did-i...

What did I get up to at the end of 2025 and in January 2026?

It’s not always easy to find time to shout about all the work we are involved in as Councillors, and sometimes the job can be quite opaque to members of the public.

open.substack.com

🚨 It's official! Swift nesting bricks have passed the Scottish Parliament and will now become law. Swifts are in serious decline across the UK. This will help reverse that trend and make our communities more liveable for birds. @markruskell.bsky.social and @writerhannah.bsky.social explain 👇

Several people have contacted me about the Greenbank-Meadows Quiet Route given the news this morning of a hearing scheduled around alleged conflicts of interest in the decision making process by some Cllrs ❌ I've written a short update on my blog here: cllrbenparker.substack.com/p/update-4-g...

What a great AGM for Edinburgh Tenants Federation 👏 We heard an excellent speech from @cllrbenparker.bsky.social about the work of ETF & @edinburghcouncil.bsky.social this year. We also honoured our Convenor Betty Stone with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her long-standing commitment to tenants 💐

Merchiston Avenue junction improvements - share your views by 10 Jan. Do you walk, cycle, drive or wheel through Merchiston Ave at Merchiston Pl/ Rochester Terr? We want to propose changes to @edinburghcouncil.bsky.social Survey at: merchistoncc.org.uk/merchiston-a...

A great launch for the new @banzaiedinburgh.bsky.social cargo bike library this afternoon — I’ve been pleased to do my small bit to help get this up and running, but a big thanks to the many others involved 🚲📦 If you want to try a cargo bike, get in touch and you can hire one for free 🌟

Swifts are in serious decline, with their UK population falling by 66% since 1995. Moments ago MSPs backed our amendment to install low cost swift nesting bricks in new buildings. This small act will make our communities more liveable for birds and help swifts recover.

Locally and nationally, @scottishgreens.org are representing working-class interests and providing a real left-wing alternative - the very things I had hoped to do as a Labour councillor. I will continue to spend every day trying my very best to serve the people of Sighthill/Gorgie.

Edinburgh independent councillor Ross McKenzie joins Greens

Edinburgh independent councillor Ross McKenzie has joined the Greens nearly three years after he quit the Labour party.

edinburghnews.scotsman.com

Hope to see lots of folk there (and delighted to be ticking off “ribbon cutting” ✂️ from the Councillor bucket list)

Merchiston Districts Community Council@merchistoncc.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Bruntsfield cargo bike library hub Grand Opening this Saturday 13 Dec! Brought to you by @banzaiedinburgh.bsky.social Come to Bruntsfield links from 2-5pm for Kids activities, Marshmallow Roasting, bike repair, Hot Drinks & Cakes, Music & more! Ribbon Cutting with @cllrbenparker.bsky.social

We want Edinburgh to have community heat networks that keep bills low and cut carbon. To make this happen, we need your input. 👉 Fill in the short survey: tinyurl.com/survey-heat What is your current experience of heating your home? What needs to change? You could win £50 in a prize draw!

My latest blog post for October 🗓️ is now live, covering: Council culture 🎭 Supporting migrants and refugees 💚 Environmental concerns with data centres and AI 🌍 Retrofitting homes and issues with Scottish Government funding 💷🏠 and more (!)

My latest blog post is now live covering action and updates on: rogue landlords 🏚️, purpose built student accommodation 🧑‍🎓, artificial intelligence 🤖, BDS 🕊 (and more!) Subscribe and read my blog here: open.substack.com/pub/cllrbenp... 🗒️

This month the Scottish Parliament backed Green calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel and companies complicit in the genocide and occupation. Now it's time to put those words into action at all levels of government.