The “queer Tamil immigrant” hoping to turn Edinburgh Green

A PHD student and self-styled “queer Tamil immigrant” is one of the Scottish Greens’ top candidates in Edinburgh—and could be on the verge of becoming an MSP.

Q Manivannan, 29, is third on the Scottish Greens candidate list for Lothian ahead of the upcoming Holyrood elections, with current polling indicating they could be on track to be elected.

Born in the Tamil Nadu region of southern India, Manivannan identifies themselves as a “queer Tamil immigrant”, and strongly connects with the region’s “significant history of resistance, of social justice, of ecological justice, being inextricable from social justice”.

Following an undergraduate degree in Delhi, Manivannan moved to Scotland in 2021 to pursue a PhD in International Relations at the University of St Andrews.

An increased involvement with the Edinburgh Greens led to Manivannan being selected as the party’s candidate in the 2025 Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart by-election, coming in third place and only 180 votes from victory.

Manivannan is vocal about several issues on both the local and national level.

They said: “Last year, we brought in free bus travel for under-22s and over-60s. And free bus travel for all doesn’t just mean access to the busses, but everything else that travel means such as being in and working in arts and culture spaces.”

They further say that social issues, such as anti-social behaviour among youths, would benefit from “a better increase of access to social services as well as public services”.

Manivannan added: “Making sure that Scottish child payments are increased from what it is right now to up to £40 per week.

“Another big policy promise that the Greens have made is an end to NHS dental charges.

“Those for me, at least in the Edinburgh side of things, would be primary, because I think they’re a means to an end.”

When questioned whether their lack of lived experience in Scotland could detract voters from voting for them, Manivannan responded: “We want parliament to be representative of Scotland, and Scotland includes immigrants.”

They added: “The response I have found on the doorstep is that people don’t really care about where I’m from, despite what the right wing would like you to believe.

“What they care is if I know enough to fill the potholes, if I know that Ashley Terrace still needs a pedestrian crossing, or if I know that you know Leith Walk still has problems in its cycling lanes.”

In their message to voters, Manivannan said: “Holyrood, when it was established, was established as a space of collaboration and care. It was intentionally meant not to be like Westminster.

“Politics is currently under threat by the far right, by hateful criminal politics that seeks to define Scotland not as a space of hospitality, but as a space that the most vulnerable of us are blamed for the world’s richest people’s crimes. 

“The Scottish Greens are going to alleviate that. We are going to do what we can to ensure money goes back to the people for free, bus travel for better rent controls for ecological justice tied directly to social justice.”