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Swinney to become SNP leader

Graeme McCormick, a well-known party activist who stood to become SNP president in 2023, claimed he would gather the 100 signatures to mount a challenge…reports Asian Lite News

John Swinney could face a leadership contest before he becomes Scottish National party leader after an activist said he expected to win enough nominations to stand.

Graeme McCormick, a well-known party activist who stood to become SNP president in 2023, claimed he would gather the 100 signatures needed from 20 different party branches to mount a challenge for the leadership.

His supporters argue it would be undemocratic for the party’s leader to win an unopposed coronation and insist that Swinney ought to face a contest. If one does take place, Swinney will not be appointed as first minister until late May.

One of McCormick’s backers, Iain Lawson, posted on X on Sunday that he had already obtained the 100 signatures required and was planning to hand them in to the SNP “in person”.

Lawson also attacked Swinney for criticising the move, and in another post accused Swinney of being entitled and “raging” that an ordinary member was challenging him.

“So Graeme McCormick has succeeded in getting the nominations he needed. Disappointed that JS [Swinney] has already had a dig at him before nominations even close for daring to challenge him. He is to give ordinary members the chance to question the new leader. New idea?”

McCormick, some of whose allies want the Scottish government to mount a second independence referendum without Westminster’s approval, won applause from hardliners when he denounced the SNP’s caution as “flatulence in a trance” during last year’s party conference.

Nominations to succeed Humza Yousaf as SNP leader close at noon on Monday. If another candidate crosses the nominations threshold and forces a contest, Yousaf is expected to remain in post and as Scotland’s first minister until a winner is declared.

McCormick was very confident he would gather the signatures before the deadline after canvassing for support at an independence rally in Glasgow organised by All Under One Banner, the Sunday Herald newspaper reported.

Swinney, who has been expecting to be confirmed as the new SNP leader on Monday afternoon and be voted in as first minister this week, warned on Sunday that a contest would delay his efforts to rebuild the party and put its deep divisions on public display.

“I think it would be better if we just got on with things, that we started the rebuilding of the SNP and its political strength,” he told BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show. “We had a lot of strains around a couple of issues in parliament and I think we’ve just had a rough couple of years.

“[The] SNP has not looked cohesive; the SNP has not looked together. The central point of my message is we’ve got to get ourselves together.”

An unopposed coronation would not be the SNP’s first: Nicola Sturgeon succeeded Alex Salmond in November 2014 without a contest.

Swinney’s call for SNP members to realise the urgency of the need to restore public confidence in the party was underlined by a poll by Norstat for Sunday Times Scotland, which said support for the party in a Westminster election had slumped to 29%.

The poll, the first to be carried out since Yousaf suddenly quit last week, put Labour on 34% and the Scottish Conservatives on 16%. Those figures suggest the SNP could lose 28 Westminster seats, a fall from 43 MPs at present to 15. Labour, which has only two Scottish seats, would win 28.

Meanwhile, former SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes confirmed earlier she was not standing and backed Swinney, having been promised a “significant” cabinet role if he becomes first minister.

If no other candidate meets the nomination deadline, Swinney would be free to seek parliamentary approval to become first minister.

Yousaf has decided to stay on in the role until a replacement is selected. Once his resignation has been accepted by the King, parliament has 28 days to select a replacement.

There will then be a vote in the chamber to decide the new first minister, which is passed by a simple majority. The SNP has 63 seats in the parliament, which means it does not have a majority, but the vote is likely to pass regardless.

The parliament’s presiding officer then recommends to the King that the winner be appointed as the new first minister.

Yousaf announced his intention to step down from the role last Monday. He had ended the Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Greens, leaving him short of support for the minority SNP government at Holyrood.

He would have faced two votes of no confidence in his leadership last week had he not stood down.

The Scottish Conservatives dropped their motion after his departure was confirmed, while Scottish Labour’s – which was a vote of confidence in the entire government – was defeated with backing from the Greens. His resignation came 13 months after defeating Ms Forbes and Ash Regan, who has since defected to the Alba Party, in the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon.

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SNP to lose 23 seats to Labour in next general election

Humza Yousaf officially elected as Scotland's new First Minister.(photo:twitter.com/HumzaYousaf)

YouGov poll predicts “less rosy” picture for Conservatives, who could lose two of their six seats to the SNP and the Liberal Democrats…reports Asian Lite News

The SNP could lose 23 seats to Labour in the next Westminster election, with the party facing wipeout in most of “Red Clydeside”, according to a new poll.

High-profile figures in the SNP who are at risk of being defeated include the party’s deputy Westminster leader Mhairi Black and former defence spokesperson Stewart McDonald, according to the analysis by YouGov.

There are also “less rosy” predictions for the Conservatives, who could lose two of their six seats to the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, who are expected to stay on just four.

While there has been criticism focused on the Scottish Government’s rural policies in recent months, most of the heavy losses for the SNP occur in the central belt.

In Glasgow – once branded “Red Clydeside” for the regularity with which it returned Labour MPs – the SNP is predicted to see a dramatic reversal in fortunes losing six out of seven constituencies won in the 2019 UK election.

Glasgow Central, Glasgow East, Glasgow North, Glasgow North East, Glasgow North West and Glasgow South all projected as gains for Labour.

The modelling suggested Anas Sarwar’s party could also win the Western Isles, ousting the long-serving SNP MP Angus MacNeil, who has held the seat there since 2005.

Meanwhile, Rutherglen and Hamilton West – where a recall petition could force a by-election ahead of the next general election if current MP Margaret Ferrier, now sitting as an independent, is suspended from the Commons for the proposed 30 days – could be another Labour capture.

However the SNP could gain Moray – currently held by Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross (above), who is stepping down at the next election.

Another potential change would see UK energy minister Andrew Bowie lose his West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine seat to the SNP.

But overall the research, which involved more than 3500 voters north of the Border, suggested Labour are currently expected to be the big winner – going from just one MP to 24.

The SNP are projected to have their worst General Election results since 2010, dropping from the 48 seats won in 2019 to 27.

This includes two seats where MPs subsequently left to join Alba – East Lothian held by Kenny MacAskill and Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath held by Neale Hanvey.

There are also proposed changes to constituency boundaries, which will be finalised in 2023 and see 57 Westminster constituencies in Scotland instead of the current 59.

The research, which used MRP (multi-level regression and post-stratification) statistical techniques to forecast the results, was based on fieldwork carried out between April 10 and May 21.

This was after Humza Yousaf took over as SNP leader and Scottish First Minister, and after a police investigation into SNP finances resulted in both the party’s HQ in Edinburgh and the home of Nicola Sturgeon being searched.

The polling firm said the findings “suggest that repeated recent bad news stories for the SNP and its new leader, Humza Yousaf, including accusations of party mismanagement and potential criminal cases being brought against senior officials, have taken a serious toll on both the party’s popular support”.

Meanwhile, it noted that “the figures will make welcome reading for Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, as well as the party’s national leader Keir Starmer”, adding that “Labour may well need a significant number of victories in Scotland to lift them over the majority line at the next Westminster contest, and the data currently suggests they are on track to do just that”.

Patrick English, associate director of political and social research at YouGov, said: “The results of YouGov’s Scottish MRP shows the SNP have some serious cause for concern, but will provide strong encouragement to Labour as they look ahead to the next general election.

“Making significant gains in Scotland could be crucial to Starmer’s chances of heading into Number 10 with a parliamentary majority next year, and these figures suggest his party is now making strong progress north of the border.

“That, plus the prospect of losing their own Scottish leader’s seat, will no doubt worry the Conservatives.”

SNP MP David Linden said: “Voting SNP is the only way to get rid of unelected Tory governments in Scotland for good. The SNP is the only party in Scotland offering a real alternative to the Tories and pro-Brexit Labour Party, handing voters the opportunity to escape the mess of Brexit and rejoin the EU with the full powers of independence.

“A strong team of SNP MPs could hold the balance of power and we would use our influence to make sure Westminster takes real action to tackle the cost of living, protect our NHS, and ensure Scotland’s democracy is respected.”

Labour shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray MP, who is currently the party’s only MP north of the border, said: “Scotland is ready for change and it falls to Scottish Labour to deliver it.

“The people of Scotland are sick and tired of Tory and SNP sleaze and failure.”

A Scottish Conservative spokesperson said: “It’s clear that voters are increasingly turned off by the scandal and civil war engulfing the SNP and their obsession with independence over the real priorities of the Scottish people.”

Meanwhile, a Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: “In seats like East Dunbartonshire and Ross, Skye and Lochaber, we’re nipping at the heels of the failed SNP and offering a brighter alternative for communities.”

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Police arrest SNP treasurer in finance probe

Scottish Tory deputy leader Meghan Gallacher, however, said Yousaf should “tackle this scandal head on and prove he is his own man” by suspending both the former first minister and her husband…reports Asian Lite News

SNP treasurer Colin Beattie has been released without charge after he became the second figure in the party to be arrested amid a police investigation into its finances.

The 71-year-old was questioned by detectives on Tuesday and Police Scotland said that evening that he had since been “released without charge pending further investigation”.

The arrest of Beattie, the MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, comes less than two weeks after former first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s husband was arrested as part of the same investigation.

Peter Murrell, the former SNP chief executive, was questioned by officers on Wednesday April 5 as officers searched the home the couple share. He was later released without charge, pending further inquiries.

Police Scotland have been looking into how more than £600,000 in donations to the party earmarked for an independence referendum had been used, but First Minister Humza Yousaf said on Tuesday that he would not be speaking to Sturgeon about the investigation. Yousaf told journalists at Holyrood: “I haven’t spoken to Nicola in the last couple of weeks, but I will get to speak to Nicola, I am certain I will. But one thing Nicola and I will not be talking about is the police investigation. That would be wholly inappropriate.”

Scottish Tory deputy leader Meghan Gallacher, however, said Yousaf should “tackle this scandal head on and prove he is his own man” by suspending both the former first minister and her husband.

Speaking in Holyrood, Gallacher said: “The SNP is in total meltdown. Its former chief executive and now its current treasurer have been arrested amid a police investigation into the party’s finances. And leaked footage has shown Nicola Sturgeon trying to shut down scrutiny.”

Her comments came after Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy called for Mr Beattie, Murrell and Sturgeon to be suspended from the SNP.

Hoy said: “This extremely serious matter is escalating by the day and everyone in the SNP has a duty to be as transparent as possible about what they knew and when.”

But Yousaf said it was a “really important point of natural law that people are presumed innocent until guilty”. He said he would consider the situation if charges are brought by police, saying if that was the case “we may well have to take that course of action”.

The First Minister stated: “Of course if they are guilty I would take the appropriate action, whether that is suspension or going further than that. But it is really important due process takes place.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Police Scotland confirmed Beattie had been arrested “in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party”.

A report will be submitted to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the force added.

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