Exclusive:Green MSPs raise 'concerns' about sharing corridor with turncoat MSP Ash Regan

Ms Regan defected to the Alba Party, just months after running for the SNP leadership.

Scottish Green MSPs have reacted with anger after claiming new Alba MSP Ash Regan may be moving office into their part of the Scottish Parliament.

Sources said the former SNP leadership candidate who defected to Alex Salmond’s party at the weekend sparked fury as she looked for a new home in Holyrood.

The party is understood to have raised concerns with the Presiding Officer, Alison Johnstone, due to the party employing transgender staff members. Ms Regan quit as a community safety minister in the Scottish Government, so she could vote against controversial gender recognition reforms as they went through Holyrood.

On Tuesday, Ms Regan was said to have been spotted in the corridor of the MSP block in parliament which currently houses Scottish Green and Scottish Liberal Democrat MSPs and is situated on the ground floor.

Sources claimed the MSP, previously based in the SNP corridor a couple of floors above, was examining her potential new home alongside several staff members.

The possible move has infuriated Scottish Greens, with the party raising concerns about the plans with the Presiding Officer. It also comes just months after Ms Regan’s failed leadership campaign which pledged to boot the party out of government.

One party source said: “Obviously not satisfied with trying and failing to get us kicked out of government, she’s trying to kick us out our offices now too.

"Most Greens would sooner work from the parliament canteen than be office-mates with Ash Regan.”

The row comes after Ms Regan upstaged the Scottish Green conference, held in Dunfermline, on Saturday when she announced her defection from the SNP at the Alba conference in Glasgow.

In her speech she criticised the Bute House Agreement between the SNP and the Greens as “deeply concerning”.

The two pro-independence parties have clashed over issues such as gender recognition reform, the deposit return scheme, and highly protected marine areas.

A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: “The SPCB has an obligation to provide office space and services to elected members and whenever a move is required all options will be explored.

“We wouldn’t however comment upon or confirm whether representations had been made.”

The Scottish Greens declined to comment. Ash Regan was contacted for comment.

Speaking earlier this week, Ms Regan said she only made the decision to defect to Alba last week, adding: “A lot of people think I had an ongoing plan to do this for some time, but that’s absolutely not the case.

“I have only spoken to Alex Salmond a couple of times, once in 2015 when I bumped into him while I was a candidate, and then I didn’t speak to him again until the SNP leadership contest. I was upfront about that, and he was kind enough to give me his time and advice.

However, Ms Regan has defended her decision to not step down, saying: “I stood on a pro-independence platform and the reason people voted for me was because they were voting for independence.

“I feel I’m the one who is staying true to that election pledge of pursuing and achieving independence, and I will continue to work really hard for my constituents. As a pro-independence politician, I feel I best serve my constituents by being in the Alba party.”

Ms Regan said she didn’t attend the SNP conference in Aberdeen a fortnight ago and therefore did not bring forward her own ideas for an independence strategy because it was “obvious” what direction the party was going in.