Stephen Flynn has called for "patience" in achieving independence as he admitted the SNP had to be "brutally honest" about its general election failures.
The SNP leader at Westminster delivered a blunt assessment of the general election result, which saw the party drop to just nine MPs from 48 in 2019, during his address to delegates at the annual conference in Edinburgh.
However, he maintained his attack on the UK Government, arguing Labour would "take a hammer to public services" after Chancellor Rachel Reeves warned of a more than £20 billion black hole in finances.
Mr Flynn's message to SNP members comes after the party held a behind closed doors audit of where the general election went wrong.
While he has praised the positive discussions that followed, he warned: “There can be no hiding from the fact that I stand here today as the leader of a much smaller Westminster group.”
“We all know and we all understand that hiding from that harsh reality will fix nothing because the right response never lies in easy excuses. The only right response is related to reflection and responsibility.”
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“We need to be brutally honest with ourselves,” he added. “It wasn’t our political opponents and it wasn’t the media who sent us a stark message at the general election. It was the people we served.”
The election result saw the party lose high profile MPs - including Glasgow's Alison Thewliss and internal critic Joanna Cherry.
Mr Flynn heavily praised First Minister John Swinney during his conference speech, stating he was the "living embodiment of a politics of service".
"There is no man I would trust to take us through these turbulent times," he said. "We are lucky to have him and Scotland is all the better that he is leading us today."
However, he appeared to acknowledge concerns that independence had not been at the forefront of voters' minds during the election.
After the election it was acknowledged by Mr Swinney that voters had not been persuaded on the "urgency" of independence and said he respected that voters were more concerned on other issues, including removing the Conservatives from office in Westminster.
Speaking on similar lines, Mr Flynn told party delegates: "It's that patience and purpose that will complete the last hard yards of realising that future.
“We should be honest that it has never been and never will be a seamless path to self-determination and independence - and at times over the last few years we should admit that we were sometimes guilty of giving that impression.
"I understand why that happened. Sometimes the non-stop nature of modern politics fed the strategy of one last push.
"But the intense immediacy of that narrative doesn't serve the need for patient persuasion of those who still need to be convinced."
Mr Flynn also took aim at Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar's pre-election pledge to stand up to Sir Keir Starmer in protecting the country's issues.
He said: “We were promised that he would be the hard man of Scottish politics and wouldn't be found wanting in standing up for Scotland.
Turns out he's less hard man, and more hard man to find.”
Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: “Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and Stephen Flynn is right to acknowledge that the people of Scotland are sick of SNP failure and incompetence.
“Year after year we have heard the same warm words from the SNP, but the failure continues.
“Instead of looking to deflect blame and make excuses, the SNP should set out a real plan to fix the mess it has made.
“Scotland deserves better than this out of touch and incompetent SNP government – and Scottish Labour is ready to deliver change.”
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