Jeane Freeman reflects on indyref anniversary

“It just looked much busier. And then we were chatting to other folks sitting in the cafe with us, including one young woman who had worked for the NHS, and clearly she couldn't express any view during her working hours, but she had painted a saltire on one of her nails.

“I just thought that was fantastic, actually. It was exciting. It was nervy, you know.”

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Ms Freeman would later go on to be elected to Holyrood, serving as Nicola Sturgeon’s health secretary during the pandemic, but during the campaign she was one of the more prominent spokespeople for Yes.

Her involvement with Women For Independence (WFI), a grassroots group set up in 2012 after the vote was confirmed, saw her invited on a number of TV shows, including one memorable confrontation with Andrew Neil.

Ms Freeman and a number of women she knew from social media “were complaining that [the referendum campaign] was going to be something where there was constantly a bunch of men on a panel telling us all what we thought.”

That was exemplified at the launch of Yes Scotland in the Cineworld in Edinburgh in 2012, where the line-up was almost all male. 

(Image: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) “And we decided at that point that rather than whinge about it, we should do something about it,” Ms Freeman said.

“And from that Women for Independence was born. And that was genuinely one of the best things I've ever been involved in, to see that organisation grow and involve and engage with women on the basis of all you need to be is curious about the idea of independence.

“You don't have to support it. You can oppose it. Just come and listen and ask questions and then see what you think.”

WFI was very much a grassroots group and got on with their own thing rather than take their lead from Yes Scotland, the ex-MSP says.

"I don't think it knew what to do with the grassroots, to be honest. And I think when organisations grow organically, like Women For Indy did, you can't then impose direction and structure on them.

“You have to let them grow.

“They're all supportive of independence and they need to put the case for that in their own way and you can't channel them into one set of messages, one approach.

“And it seemed to me that the formal Yes campaign did not know how to manage this, did not know how to work with those organisations.

“I think probably from 2013 onwards, it really didn't give much in the way of quality leadership.”

While support for independence has remained relatively stable in recent years, support for Ms Freeman’s party has fallen. At the general election they lost a third of their vote and saw the number of MPs returned fall from 48 to just nine. 

Ms Freeman says this may end up being a challenge for the other parties.

“Clearly support for independence is not tied to support for the SNP and therefore. That's the bit that is the challenge to parties who oppose independence.

“People are supporting independence, albeit, they don't want it right now. That's not where they are.

“They don't want to be asked to make that decision, but they're supporting the idea of an independent Scotland whilst voting for other political parties.

“So the challenge to those political parties is how are you going to allow that view to be expressed and represented by you in terms of the movement.”

Ms Freeman said there will continue to be pressure on the SNP, “to do the job of governing better.”

“I think that's that's what people want. That's why I don't think the support for the SNP in terms of voting declined.

"Not because we haven't had a second independence referendum. I think it's declining partly because it does for any government in power for as long as it has been in power, and partly because people want to see improvements in lives and in their lives and the services that matter to them.”