The Scottish Greens will field a record 44 candidates at the General Election on July 4. 

However, the party has accepted that first past post means it unlikely they will win any Westminster seats.

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During a press conference in Glasgow, co-leader Lorna Slater said: “This election, we have even more Scottish Greens candidates, giving even more people the opportunity to vote for the climate action that we badly need.

“Today I am proud to announce that there will be 44 Scottish Green candidates standing the length and breadth of this country.

“Forty-four candidates who will be asking the people of Scotland to vote like your future depends on it, because our future does depend on the outcome of this election.”

Speaking to the PA news agency after her speech, she said the record number of candidates is a “significant indication of our growth as a party”.

But she added: “Of course, first-past-the-post voting such as we have at Westminster isn’t very democratic and it’s quite difficult for small parties to actually win seats.

“This is a really good opportunity for us to get out there, get the Scottish Green message heard, and as standing as candidates we make sure that the climate emergency is mentioned at every opportunity. We won’t let other parties sweep it under the rug.”

Ms Slater also criticised the SNP, and accused them of trying to have it "both ways" on oil and gas and tackling the climate emergency.

The comments come after the party's leadership said they had never ruled out support for new licenses for extraction in the North Sea, despite the Scottish Government's draft energy strategy including a presumption against drilling.

Ms Slater - who was a Scottish Government minister until the abrupt end of the Bute House Agreement added: “But it’s also horrendous what the other parties are doing – the Tories have said yes to oil and gas, which is reckless in the extreme during a climate emergency.

“Labour have said they won’t change anything the Tories are doing, and the SNP appear to be trying to have it both ways – say no to new licences to environmental campaigners but yes to the industry.

“They need to come clean.”

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In his speech, her co-leader Patrick Harvie said this would be the "most important General Election campaign we’ve ever fought."

He urged voters to "help us put the country back on track in terms of the climate objectives, and put us as a party on track to deliver our biggest ever campaign in a couple of years’ time for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.”