An SNP veteran has warned that plans by a controversial blogger for a new political party to contest the Holyrood elections could end up splitting the pro-independence vote.
Jim Sillars, the former depute leader of the SNP, said that a suggestion by Wings over Scotland author Stuart Campbell for another party to stand on the List could make it harder to win a pro-independence majority in 2021.
However, he said: “This is a sign of frustration on the part of people in the independence movement, which I fully understand.”
The 2021 Holyrood election is shaping up to be a single issue poll on whether the SNP and Greens can secure a majority of seats for another independence referendum.
Former Sturgeon adviser: SNP and Lib Dems should unite to wipe out the Tories
The two parties won 69 seats at the last Holyrood election, but the UK Government has consistently rejected another plebiscite in the current term.
Holyrood’s electoral system means that a party which performs well in the first past the post (FPTP) seats will find it harder to make gains on the eight regional Lists. In 2016, the SNP won 59 FPTP seats, but only secured four List members.
Bath-based Campbell, whose Wings over Scotland describes itself as a "Scottish political media digest and monitor", has been criticised for his attacks on opponents of independence.
He also lost a defamation case to former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, who had accused him of sending "homophobic tweets".
It was reported yesterday that Campbell has been discussing an idea for a new pro-independence party, which would contest the 2021 election.
He said: “It’s conceivable that a Wings party might be able to pick up list seats that the pro-indy side otherwise might not."
The plan could be pushed ahead with “if it looked like there wasn’t going to be a pro-independence majority, which I think is a very real danger”.
Paul Hutcheon: the biggest threat to the Union is Scottish Labour's disintegration
One senior SNP source said that such a party could, if the SNP focused solely on FPTP, win around 20 List seats, thus securing a pro-independence majority.
However Sillars, who is one of his party’s most famous figures, said: “If you set up a party that seeks to take votes away from the SNP, which presumably they are trying to do, then you make it harder to get the overall majority at Holyrood.”
He added that, far from the SNP repeating its success in FPTP constituencies, Nicola Sturgeon’s party could lose some of these seats in 2021 and need List pick-ups: “Perhaps nobody has thought that the SNP might need more people from the List than last time. You might fall between two stools. A bit of patience is required in the independence movement. What’s two or three or four years in the life of the nation?”
He warned: “I think it possibly could split the vote. It could end up a mess.”
Sillars is a critic of the SNP leadership, but noted: “We have one instrument, the SNP, and the fact of the matter is that that is the instrument we need to get independence.”
The Wings over Scotland blog stated yesterday: "As we’ve said, it’s only a half-formed thought at the moment. We’ve sounded out a few people for opinions and feelings, and in some cases asked them if they might in principle consider running for it, but that’s as far as it’s gone."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel