The truth is that the huge differences displayed between the three SNP leadership hopefuls on Tuesday night are not new, writes Euan McColm.
One of the greatest characters in Quentin Tarantino’s second movie, Pulp Fiction, is Winston Wolfe, an immaculately turned-out clean-up specialist whose skill in removing evidence from crime scenes makes him the go-to guy for Los Angeles gangsters who’ve spilled blood.
Portrayed by Harvey Keitel, “The Wolf” is cool-headed and efficient. No matter the devastation facing him, he may be depended upon to put things right.
After the televised leadership debate between the three candidates vying to replace Nicola Sturgeon as first minister, the SNP could do with its own Winston. Because, man, that was a bloodbath. They’ll be cleaning the carpets in the STV studio for months.
Finance Secretary Kate Forbes’s trashing of Health Secretary Humza Yousaf’s record in government was brutal, as was his attack on her chances of uniting the SNP behind her. And Ash Regan was just as vicious as her opponents when all three got stuck into the failed strategy of the woman they wish to succeed.
It was, I’m sure, miserable viewing for SNP members who’ve spent the past 20 years believing themselves to be part of a great, happy family. For their opponents – well, it’s hard to think of something they might have found more entertaining.
The truth is that the huge differences displayed on Tuesday night are not new. It’s just that the SNP has exerted incredible effort in recent years to create the impression of unity.
Salmond’s ceasefire is over
In 2015, the party was so concerned about maintaining this facade that a new pledge for candidates was drawn up. Anyone who wished to stand for election would have to commit to never disagreeing with policy or criticising colleagues in public.
This rather Stalinist approach to dissent may have kept elected members in line, but it did nothing to encourage healthy debate among them. The deal was simply that Nicola Sturgeon dictated a position and you either signed up or faced disciplinary action.
What we saw this week was candidates freeing themselves from those shackles. It’s hardly surprising that passions ran quite so high after years of enforced lip-biting.
The challenge for the next leader of the SNP will be to bring the party back together following such a public falling out.
'The trains were never on time'
Kate Forbes grills Humza Yousaf on his record in government
I #STVDebate live: https://t.co/fw6Oo0d7GW pic.twitter.com/Hsz4OCz3cl— STV News (@STVNews) March 7, 2023
How will Forbes and Yousaf work together after telling the Scottish public they consider each other useless? How will any of the candidates retain the loyalty of members after telling them they’ve spent years wasting their time supporting unworkable strategies on winning independence?
One of the great achievements of former SNP leader Alex Salmond was bringing together warring factions in a party which, for years, was hopelessly split on the question of how independence might be achieved.
That ceasefire lasted two decades. But it’s over now.
The next SNP leader will inherit a party more bitterly divided than it ever was.
Euan McColm is a regular columnist for various Scottish newspapers
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