And so farewell to Patrick Harvie, Scotland’s right-on, sanctimonious, witchfinder-general and scourge of the phobic classes.

From obscurity, one of Scottish politics’ most active attention-seekers was propelled, and to there he should return – but not if he has anything to do with it.

No sooner had he announced his decision to stand down as co-convener of the Scottish Greens, than he was messaging everyone on the party’s membership database to reassure them that that they could stop crying and pull away from the window ledge, as he intends to stand again as a prospective MSP in next year’s Scottish Parliament election.

Some politicians are Marmite, Harvie is more supermarket own-brand yeast extract. There are some who love him, many more who loathe him, but most people simply ignore him in favour of the real thing.

Read more by Carlos Alba

Among the many column inches dedicated to his departure from office in recent days, he has been described as one of Scotland’s most consequential politicians. I would not argue but the problem is that he was consequential for all the wrong reasons.

There was his failed ban on woodburning stoves; his punitive rent controls on landlords that backfired; his onerous environmental regulations for homeowners that were watered down; and his plans to extend Scotland’s Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), which were scrapped.

Never has so much hot air been expended on such ill-thought out dogma which, for a Green politician concerned about global warming, is not a good look.

Democracies need minority parties to act as their conscience on important issues like the environment, but someone like Harvie should never have been allowed anywhere near government.

As his party’s co-leader during its ill-fated coalition partnership with the SNP, first under Nicola Sturgeon and subsequently under Humza Yousaf, he was afforded too much power and influence over policy.

His bigger sin, however, was to usher in a nasty, polarising form of politics that pitted those wholeheartedly in favour of his radical, progressive worldview against those who were not.

Even to have some reservations against his ultra-doctrinaire programme was to risk being labelled extremist or, the highest-ranking term in the Harviesque scale of demonology, “phobic”.

This was exemplified no more than in the Dear Green Leader’s casus belli, the now notorious Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill when, overnight, Scotland suddenly became a nation of transphobes.

Anyone disagreeing with this dangerously authoritarian legislative jackhammer risked being exposed to the worst excesses of Harvie and his angry mob of culture warriors, in one of the most ugly and toxic atmospheres that has existed in Scotland in recent times.

While public figures like JK Rowling and Joanna Cherry were forthright and brave enough to put themselves in the firing line, other, innocent victims thrust there involuntarily included hard-working and well intentioned people running women’s aid groups, as well as those whom they worked to protect.

As an enthusiastic advocate of whataboutery, Harvie holds no truck with those arguing that the hard-won rights – and even the safety – of women were negatively impacted by the gender recognition legislation.

He continued to fight for the right of people to legally self-identify in their chosen sex, even after the transgender rapist Isla Bryson was remanded in a women’s prison.

Anyone disagreeing with him was given the textbook Harvie treatment, like the nationalist MSP Joan McAlpine, who had the audacity to air her views on the conflict between the rights of women and transgender people.

He tweeted: "If the SNP wants to be a safe and supportive place for trans and gender non-conforming people, they have to squarely take on those trying to prevent trans people having the same rights as anyone else" along with a photo of Ms McAlpine on which a badge with the words "weekly wanker” had been photo-shopped.

Harvie used last week’s announcement as yet another opportunity to voice his opposition to the independent Cass review into child gender services in England, which concluded that medical interventions such as puberty-blockers lacked evidence and should be treated with caution.

Describing the review as "unscientific", he said in an interview with the Times: "I think there are some politicians who, for quite profoundly ill-judged reasons, are trying to tell doctors what drugs they should prescribe to which patients, and I think that's deeply wrong and dangerous.”

Unless, of course, he is the politician in question in which case, presumably, it is acceptable.

He does, of course, ignore the reality that the Cass review was, at least in part, prompted by the concerns of a number of clinical whistleblowers, who worked for child gender services and were deeply concerned by the sudden surge in referrals to gender clinics and the evidence base for treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

Patrick Harvie rejected the findings of the Cass ReviewPatrick Harvie rejected the findings of the Cass Review (Image: PA)

The review's final report, published in April last year, found the existing evidence for both endocrine and non-endocrine treatments for gender dysphoria in young people to be weak.

It highlighted a lack of research on long-term outcomes, particularly regarding social transition and the use of puberty blockers. The review also noted conflicting clinical views on appropriate treatment approaches, with some clinicians expressing concerns about an overly affirmative stance.

Some medical organisations, both in the UK and overseas, have expressed concerns about the report's implications, with some calling for a pause in implementing its recommendations until further evaluation.

Given the gender services’ disturbing reluctance to collect and publish data to justify is clinical practices, the more sensible way forward is for a cautious and evidence-based approach to treating gender dysphoria in young people.

Like finding a “before they were famous” video of a film star online, some items from news archives demonstrate how little has changed in Harvie’s modus operandi since he was a little-known LGBT worker back in the day.

In one of his first public utterances, in a letter to the Herald in 2001, he described the then Lib Dem environment minister Ross Finnie – a gentle soul and steadfast public servant – as an “apologist for genetic pollution”.

While Harvie will doubtless continue to be vocal on his pet issues as a humble backbencher, we should all be grateful that he is no longer in a position to influence our lives with his potty ideas and noxious politics.

Carlos Alba is a journalist, author, and PR consultant at Carlos Alba Media. His latest novel, There’s a Problem with Dad, explores the issue of undiagnosed autism among older people