THE SNP needs to rethink its strategy and become a party of “radical change” following the coronavirus outbreak, one of its senior MPs has said.

Joanna Cherry called for party chiefs to use their time in lockdown to work on policy and development. 

She said there is “more bandwidth than usual” to do so because of the reduced timetables at Holyrood and Westminster.

Her comments come five years after the SNP achieved its best ever result in a Westminster election, winning 56 of the 59 Scottish seats in the May 2015 ballot.

Ms Cherry was one of those elected in 2015 as the MP for Edinburgh South West, but she has more recently been vying for a spot at Holyrood as she seeks to be the SNP candidate for Edinburgh Central in next year’s Scottish Parliament election.

On Twitter yesterday, she wrote that while the SNP must be focused on the Covid crisis, the party should also be “reframing policy and strategy to make sure that, looking to Scotland’s future, we are the party of radical change”.

Writing in The National, she added: “Now is the time for the SNP to do the work to create the vision for the Scotland we want to see at the other end of this crisis.

“While dealing with the public health emergency and saving lives must be the priority of the Scottish Government, the SNP as a party rather than as a government should be looking to our overall strategy and our policy direction.

“There are many party members, elected officials and office bearers in the SNP who are not members of the Government and who currently have time on their hands.

“Whilst parliamentarians’ primary focus must be on their constituents’ concerns, we have more bandwidth than usual because the Westminster and Holyrood parliaments are running to very reduced timetables.”

She said action is necessary to help the SNP enjoy continued electoral success. 

She drew a parallel with the election following the Second World War when Clement Attlee became prime minister, defeating Winston Churchill despite him leading the country to victory in the conflict.

Ms Cherry said: “Currently, we are at the peak of a crisis led by a leader who is widely respected and trusted.

“However, when the peak of the crisis is over and we start to return to some degree of normality, that won’t be enough. 

“After the Second World War was won, when Britain went to the polls, voters chose not the leader who won the war but Clement Attlee, who had a radical plan for the peace.

“After this crisis is over, people may well be in mood for radical change in Scotland. We need to make sure the SNP is the party of that radical change.

“We exist to win independence for Scotland not for the sake of it but to make sure that the vital decisions about how we run our economy and our society are taken closer to home so that we can do things differently and better.

“This means that despite the current crisis, work should be continuing apace within our party on policy development and strategic direction.”

Her comments follow a YouGov poll published last week that suggested the SNP is on track for a majority at next year’s Holyrood election.

The survey of 1095 Scots found 54 per cent plan to give their first vote to the party in the election next spring, while 45% would pick them for the regional vote.

Ballot Box Scotland said this would result in the party taking 68 seats, an increase of five from the last election.

Meanwhile, a Panelbase poll commissioned by the pro-independence blog Wings Over Scotland found Scots are divided 50-50 on the issue of independence.

Nicola Sturgeon previously abandoned her plan to have a second independence referendum this year because of coronavirus. 

Constitutional Relations Secretary Michael Russell said the SNP administration had “paused work” on preparing for Indyref2 in late 2020 and would focus its resources on coping with the health crisis instead.

“It follows from this that a referendum will not take place this year,” he said.