The Scottish Greens’ co-leader Lorna Slater said her party will have “greater influence in Holyrood than ever before” following the party’s best election performance.

Ms Slater said the SNP falling short of an overall majority and the Scottish Greens’ returning eight MSPs was a “good thing for Scotland” because her party offered “positive, practical policies” for the country.

After she was elected to the Scottish Parliament for the first time as a regional MSP for Lothian, Ms Slater said she will be giving up her job as an engineering manager to take her seat in the Scottish Parliament after the “huge privilege” of being elected on the Lothian list.

Speaking to the PA news agency, she said: “I am so excited to be part of the largest-ever green group of MSPs, to know that we have greater influence in Holyrood than ever before at this critical time when we’re tackling climate emergency, coming out of the pandemic and determining what kind of future Scotland’s going to have.

“It’s a huge privilege to be part of that.”

Asked about the Scottish Greens’ role in the next parliament in light of the SNP falling short of an overall majority, Ms Slater told PA: “I think it’s a strength of the Scottish Parliament that we can have minority governments because actually, I think legislation is better when it’s worked on by more than one party.

“The SNP in the last parliament had to work with different parties on different pieces of legislation, and that means negotiation, it means consensus, it means grown-up politics.

“So I think it’s a good thing for Scotland.”

She added: “We came into this election with a costed manifesto that had practical policies to tackle the climate emergency, create tens of thousands of jobs and help build a wellbeing economy.

“So we will be working to implement what’s in our manifesto.”