Concerns over Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop’s record tally of meetings with Scottish Greens spokesperson
The cabinet minister who has the final say on A96 dualling has met the Scottish Greens’ transport spokesperson more than anyone else over the last nine years, we can reveal.
In less than three years, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop has racked up more meetings with Green MSP for Central Scotland and Fife Mark Ruskell than any other person in her ministerial career since May 2016.
According to the official record of ministerial meetings, Ms Hyslop has met the MSP 21 times for talks since becoming Minister for Transport in June 2023.
Moray-based MSP Douglas Ross said the Cabinet Secretary must “urgently come clean” about the frequent meetings, which continued after the collapse of the SNP and Green power sharing deal in April 2024.
The Bute House Agreement, signed in 2021, launched a review of the Scottish Government’s pledge to dual the A96 by 2030.
The outcome, released in November 2024 after nearly two years of delays, proposed scrapping plans to fully dual the road between Inverness and Aberdeen in favour of Elgin and Keith bypasses.
Ms Hyslop’s diary reveals that, on the day plans were released, she met with only one politician - Mr Ruskell.
A consultation report later confirmed that nearly two-thirds of the public still want the road fully dualled.
Mr Ross said the frequent meetings show that the Greens continue to influence Scottish Government policy, more than a year after the end of their power-sharing agreement.
“Communities across Moray will be appalled that the Green tail is still wagging the SNP dog when it comes to the A96,” Mr Ross said.
“The extremist Greens want to wage war on motorists at every turn and while they were in government were hellbent on stopping the SNP from upgrading or fully dualling the A96.
“It is bad enough that they had so much influence under the Bute House Agreement, but Fiona Hyslop has serious questions to answer about the continuing role the Greens seem to have with respect to transport policy long after they have left government.
“She must urgently come clean on why she is continuing to meet so frequently with the Greens’ transport spokesperson long after the formal agreement between their parties collapsed, including on the day when the A96 corridor review was published.
“These cosy conversations will give people and businesses across Moray no confidence that the SNP will ever dual the A96.”
Ms Hyslop and Mr Ruskell met 13 times during the lifetime of the Bute House Agreement. The pair met every five weeks, on average, while the deal was still in place.
However, regular meetings have continued every seven weeks on average.
As of June this year, she had met the politician eight times since the Scottish Government walked away from the deal.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government argued that, as a minority government, it was normal for ministers to meet transport spokespeople from opposition parties.
They also claimed there had been a “regular cycle of meetings” with both Conservative and Labour transport spokespeople along with roundtable discussions with all parties during the A96 Corridor Review.
However, Ms Hyslop’s total of 21 meetings with Mr Ruskell was more than double the tally for transport spokespeople from other parties combined.
The cabinet secretary met Conservative transport spokesperson Graham Simpson MSP six times between October 31, 2023 and September 17, 2024.
Over that same period, she held 12 meetings with Mr Ruskell.
And, between January 17 and June 13, Ms Hyslop met Labour transport spokesperson Alex Rowley four times but met Mr Ruskell five times.
Since the Bute House Agreement ended, the Cabinet Secretary has met the Conservative and Labour spokespeople once, but has met Mr Ruskell eight times.
The Scottish Government spokesperson argued that regular meetings with other parties ended after Mr Simpson was “sacked as Conservative transport spokesperson” and Mr Rowley stood down.
“Introductory meetings took place with their replacements, but the offer of regular meetings has not been taken up by them in a similar way,” the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson also said that the final decision on the A96 would depend on the contents of the UK Budget to be announced on Wednesday, November 26, along with the Scottish Government’s updated Infrastructure Investment Plan scheduled for next year.
However, they added: “The Scottish Government’s position on the A96 has not changed – we remain in favour of full dualling of the route and we are progressing the dualling process from Inverness to Nairn, including Nairn bypass.
“MSPs of all parties were invited to meet the Cabinet Secretary at a roundtable on the A96 review but unfortunately Douglas Ross was not able to attend.”
Details of ministerial meetings show that former transport ministers and cabinet secretaries have also met repeatedly with Mr Ruskell.
Ms Hyslop was appointed Transport Secretary on February 8, 2024, with Mairi McAllan covering the front bench transport brief before that.
She met Mr Ruskell four times over that period to discuss “transport, net zero and just transition”.
Previous Transport Secretary Michael Matheson also met Mr Ruskell five times, in the year from December 2021, while former Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth met the Green politician seven times in the year from March 2022.
One of Ms Gilruth's meetings was labelled "Monthly meeting with Mark Ruskell MSP".
In total, that makes 38 meetings between transport ministers and the Green spokesperson since December 2021.
In response to the meeting details, Mr Ruskell defended the Scottish Green Party’s record in office and said they had consistently called for a “balanced package of transport measures” for A96 communities.
“I’m proud of what we’ve delivered,” he said.
“Free bus travel for under 22s, the scrapping of peak rail fares, the national rollout of safer 20mph speed limits and investment in our railways.
“The Scottish Greens have always believed in the importance of a balanced package of transport measures for communities along the A96 corridor, including a Nairn bypass, dualling Inverness to Nairn, safety improvements and a major investment in public transport."