The SNP’s challenge to hold on across Scotland at the next election is only being made more difficult by splinters in the nationalist movement.
Veteran nationalist Pete Wishart said he was bemused by the possibility of three other pro-independence candidates contesting the seat he holds.
Now, Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil, thrown out of the SNP last August, says its the SNP that should stand aside to give him a free run on an independence ticket.
“The SNP think solidarity is a one-way street, and arrogantly refuse to work with anyone, but make demands throwing their toys out of the pram,” he told the P&J.
“The SNP aren’t even making this election about independence but about asking Keir Starmer a question, wasting votes when Starmer inevitably says no.”
‘Stop preaching’
He added: “I do think the SNP should practise what they preach and put independence first or stop preaching.”
First Minister Humza Yousaf fuelled the row in recent days, saying votes for the Greens and Alba Party will be wasted since neither party has a hope of winning anywhere.
He warned splits in the nationalist vote could help unionist parties clinch some key seats when voters go to the polls.
Yet while support for independence and the SNP used to go hand-in-hand, that’s no longer the case, according to polling.
Mr MacNeil said his old party will struggle to be “taken seriously” in his island constituency due to a “conveyor belt of nonsense laws”.
Highland Councillor Karl Rosie joined Alba last month, saying his former party had neglected the needs and priorities of the Highlands.
For those like Mr Rosie in Alex Salmond’s party – which will run at least a dozen candidates in the election – vague promises of a second referendum are no longer enough.
Alba has had no electoral success whatsoever since being founded in 2021, but small margins could define who wins tightly contested seats.
The Scottish Greens – who share power at Holyrood – plan to run a record number of candidates when the election is finally called.
To frustrated SNP figures, this is a waste given the two parties are allied and share much in common.
To the Greens, it’s a natural way to continue boosting their profile after record successes in 2021.
“No party owns anyone’s vote,” said North East regional Green MSP Maggie Chapman. “In the Scottish Greens, it is up to local branches to decide if and where to stand in elections.”
Green insiders said there was “frustration” at the SNP trying to corner the market for pro-independence votes.
“Pro-independence voters are not a monolith,” one said. “They have a wide variety of things to motivate them at the ballot box.
“Independence, while really important, is not the prescient thing on the minds of the voters. No political party owns a voter.”
The insider pointed out the SNP were once in a similar position to the Greens, before they achieved major breakthroughs.
With independence unlikely to be on the agenda even if Mr Yousaf would prefer otherwise, the Greens and Alba are unlikely to be cowed.
But nowhere better exemplifies how lingering feuds threaten the nationalists at the ballot box than the Western Isles.
Labour candidate Torcuil Crichton already stood a strong chance of winning the seat anyway.
Now he is almost a dead cert to come out on top, given Mr MacNeil and the SNP will be taking votes from each other.
But Mr MacNeil remains bullish about his chances – and if anything thinks being kicked out of his old party might help him.
“Daily I conclude that it is an increasing electoral asset for me to have been expelled from the SNP,” he said.
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