Ash Regan has ruled out standing down to spark a by-election, insisting that constituents who voted for her back in 2021 did so because they wanted to see progress on independence.
Speaking to The Herald just three days after her defection to Alex Salmond’s Alba party, the Edinburgh Eastern MSP admitted that her close friendships with colleagues and activists meant the decision to cross the floor had been difficult.
And she revealed that a number of her former Holyrood colleagues had been in touch following the surprise announcement.
READ MORE: Former SNP leadership contender Ash Regan defects to Alba party
Ms Regan said she only decided to quit the SNP last Thursday, just 48 hours before she appeared at the Alba conference in Glasgow.
“I've been in the SNP for a long time,” she said. “People have obviously close relationships with colleagues, friends, activists campaigners, family, etc.
“So no, no politician ever takes a decision like this lightly and I didn't.
“But I only decided on Thursday.
“So it's not been part of any long-term plan or anything like that.
“I really, really wanted to be able to try and look at the issues that the SNP was facing, and try to be part of the solution to those.
“But unfortunately, it got to the point where they, at the last conference, obviously, they decided to go with an independence strategy that I feel is really a repeat of the failed strategy of the past.
“And I feel that Scotland now needs to move forward. We need a different strategy. I think the one that I put forward in the leadership contest is a credible strategy. It's the Alba party strategy as well. And I think that's the right way forward.”
READ MORE: SNP members back 'majority of seats' independence strategy
Earlier this month, SNP members backed the leadership’s plans to give “democratic effect to Scotland becoming an independent country” if Humza Yousaf's party wins a majority of seats at the next general election.
That means if the SNP win 29 of Scotland’s 57 constituencies, the First Minister will demand the UK Government start independence negotiations, or begin talks on either a new referendum or devolving the powers to hold a referendum to Holyrood.
“I've got to the point where I can't support that independence strategy,” Ms Regan said. “This isn't some niche policy area that people wouldn't understand. It's not a disagreement with one particular person. This was the founding mission of the Scottish National Party.
“It's the reason I joined. It's the reason most people vote for the party. So it seems to me that they're drifting away from that commitment to independence and I want to put independence front and centre.”
The former community safety minister said some of her former SNP colleagues had sent her messages in the wake of the news.
“I obviously intend to continue to work with them as closely as possible. So I'm hoping that we'll be able to have a close working relationship going forward.”
She said she could even see herself backing Shona Robison’s budget when MSPs come to vote on it in the new year.
Ms Regan also declined to criticise Mr Yousaf after he said her defection was “no great loss” for the SNP.
Speaking to the Press Association, the First Minister said he was “not particularly surprised” by Ms Regan’s decision to join Alba.
“I am disappointed though. Ash Regan, of course, was elected on an SNP ticket – the reason she was elected is because of the SNP logo next to her name on the ballot paper.
“For her to defect but not resign, I think is not an honourable position, she should do the honourable thing, the principled thing, and resign.”
“I think Humza is clearly going through a really tough time personally, isn't he?” Ms Regan told The Herald.
“His family, his in-laws being trapped in Gaza is clearly really, really stressful.
“I wish Humza well. I wish him well in his leadership in what is a really difficult time, and I want to work with the party. So I've got no animosity towards anyone in the party.”
READ MORE: UNSPUN: Ash Regan leaps into the abyss... the SNP won't jump in after her
Asked if she should stand down and trigger a by-election, Ms Regan said she would not.
“I stood on our pro-independence platform both in 2016, and then I doubled the majority in 2021.
“People voted for me, albeit on an SNP ticket, because they wanted to progress and achieve independence for Scotland.
“That's the reason people vote for the SNP.
“I believe that I'm staying true to my election pledge that I had with the people of Edinburgh Eastern, and I will continue to work tirelessly for them both on constituency issues but also on this big issue of Scottish independence.
"But I feel I can only do that now by moving over to the other party.”
I asked Ash Regan if her voters in Edinburgh Eastern were now due a by-election. She says no, and that people voted for her in 2021 because they wanted to achieve independence. pic.twitter.com/8hH8CnMKeu
— Andrew Learmonth (@andrewlearmonth) October 30, 2023
When Ms Regan returns to Holyrood today she will need to move out of her office on the SNP corridor. One Labour staffer suggested there may not be room for her on any of the other floors.
“Obviously, the convention is that you're grouped according to party. So I'd imagine that the preference would be to put me somewhere else,” Ms Regan said. “But that's news. I didn't know there wasn't anywhere else to go. So I don't know what arrangements they'll come up with.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Parliament said they would “find a way to accommodate” any request to change offices in the MSP block.
Meanwhile, an SNP councillor has also defected to Alba, claiming that he had been "strung along" by his old party.
Chris Cullen's decision means Alex Salmond's party now has elected representatives in Westminster, Holyrood and local government.
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