Greens will only field candidates in three Scots constituencies

The Greens will not be contesting any Westminster seats in Courier Country, it has been confirmed.

Patrick Harvie’s party is only fielding candidates in three Scottish constituencies, which are all in the Central Belt.

The branch leadership in Dundee and Angus said they are boycotting the contests over the Prime Minister’s “cynical and opportunistic” calling of the snap election.

Decisions on whether to fight seats were made locally, but revealed at national level by the party yesterday.

It means that SNP candidates in Tayside and Fife – where there was a Nationalist clean sweep two years ago – will not have a mainstream challenger that is pro-independence.

Gord Matheson, co-convener of the Dundee and Angus Greens, said: “We did stand candidates in Dundee in 2015, but this is no normal election.

“The Prime Minister has called this snap election in a cynical and opportunistic attempt to gain a mandate to push through a hard Brexit that we know will be damaging to Scotland.”

The lack of a Green candidate could prove decisive in the key battlegrounds of Perth and North Perthshire and North East Fife, which are flagship targets of the Tories and Lib Dems respectively.

In 2015, the Greens had candidates in more than half of Scotland’s 59 constituencies.

Mr Harvie, the co-convener who is standing in Glasgow North, will launch the party’s Commons campaign today.