ASH Regan refused to say if she agrees with one of her key advisors that Alex Salmond's court case was the result of a 'stitch up' by Nicola Sturgeon. 

Kirk Torrance, who was a defence witness in the former first minister’s sexual offences trial in 2020, has signed up to the work with the leadership hopeful on her campaign.

The digital guru is often credited with much of the SNP’s campaigning success in the early part of the last decade. 

However, he was instrumental in Alba’s creation and stood as a candidate for the fledgling party at the 2021 election. 

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He has long been a fierce supporter of Mr Salmond and has business links with the former SNP boss. According to Companies House, until July 2020, the former first minister had between 25 and 50 per cent of the shares in Mr Torrance’s security firm Sidh'Allion Beinne Ltd.

After Mr Salmond was cleared of all charges, Mr Torrance tweeted: “I was proud to give evidence at the High Court in support of @AlexSalmond.

“I am glad the jury saw through what was obviously a machiavellian stitch-up. It was wonderful to see Alex, the #statesman, smile again and hear his dignified remarks following his complete #vindication."

During the Holyrood probe into the Scottish Government's botched handling of harassment complaints against Mr Salmond, he sent a tweet to Chris McEleny - now the general secretary of Alba - saying: “Well, Nixon — with all his faults — made a much more positive impact in the world than @NicolaSturgeon could ever hope for. Further, he was only guilty of the #Watergate coverup; whereas Nicola is up to her dark eyes in the genesis, implementation and coverup of the #StitchUp!”

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Asked by Channel 4 News if she thought Mr Salmond had been stitched up by Ms Sturgeon, Ms Regan declined to answer. 

In a statement provided to the broadcaster later, Ms Regan said: "Kirk's a professional consultant, worked internationally and did strategy for three major parties in the UK, most notably the SNP.

“In a matter of days, I've got home from attacking the SNP to fighting for it. It's all about how you treat people, how you move forward together. This is what we will do across the nation, a stronger SNP."

Mr Torrance said: "I love Scotland and will do whatever is in the best interest of this country. I've been very disappointed to see how unnecessarily fractured the independence movement has become these past few years. 

“Mistakes have undoubtedly been made by the party's leadership, even the kids in the playground could tell you that. 

“Ash Regan outlined her vision to heal the SNP, united the independence movement, and get the country through this cost of living crisis and then on to independence. 

“She then asked me to help her win this contest and that is exactly what we are going to do.”

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Earlier in the week, Ms Regan and Mr Torrance were filmed in the company of Robin McAlpine, the founder and former director of the Common Weal think tank, who has been a staunch critic of Ms Sturgeon’s time in office. 

He was also the main author behind Alba’s WeeALBAbook, setting out the party’s campaign for independence. 

Ms Regan also used to work with Common Weal. 

In March 2020, Mr Salmond was found not guilty on 12 of the sexual assault charges facing him, while another was found not proven.

A further charge of sexually assaulting a tenth woman was dropped by prosecutors.

Following his court case, MSPs resumed an investigation into the Scottish Government’s flawed probe into allegations of misconduct made against Mr Salmond by two civil servants.

He had the exercise set aside in January 2019, with a judicial review declaring it “unlawful” and “tainted by bias”. The Government’s botched handling ultimately cost the taxpayer half a million pounds.