March 3, 2023 - 10:00am
In the eight years since he resigned as Scotland’s First Minister, in the wake of a referendum that did not bring about his dream of national self-determination, Alex Salmond’s legacy has not been well-served. From 2017, he broadcast an interview show on RT, the Russian state TV channel, before leaving the presenter’s chair only when the invasion of Ukraine last February made it untenable, even for him. Three years ago, accused of multiple sexual molestation charges and of attempted rape, he secured a verdict of not guilty across the board — at the cost of his reputation.
His popularity has since plummeted even further, aided by the scorn heaped on him by his protégé and successor, Nicola Sturgeon. His apparently inexhaustible self-regard allowed him to not only continue in public life, but to found and lead a rival nationalist party. Alba has so far had no one elected anywhere.
Yet Salmond may be the only figure to save the SNP from further decline. The modern SNP is his creation, and in building the party he uncovered a well of longing for independence: many nationalists revere him still for that.
Nominations have closed in the race to succeed Sturgeon, with three aspirants for office. Humza Yousaf, the Health Secretary, is personable and faithful to Sturgeon — and to some of her less popular policies — but widely judged ineffective. Kate Forbes, the rapidly-promoted Finance Secretary, has refused to hide her Wee Free Presbyterian morality and has lost backers as a result, yet is presently ahead of Yousaf in the polls. Ash Regan, formerly a junior cabinet minister, is a distant third.
Though she is the outsider in the contest, it is Regan who offers Salmond a second political life. She would, she says, welcome him back into the SNP — apparently insouciant about his near-certain determination to use a new membership card to lead once more, officially or not. It would be a place from which he could start to repair his slumped popularity, running at a mere 10%. Indeed, it may be a deliberate strategy: the recreation of a male-female duumvirate, with Salmond, whatever his title (or none) again in the saddle.
Speaking to Sky yesterday, he insisted that he does not “have a dog in this race” as part of an interview in which he accused Yousaf of skipping the final vote on legalising same-sex marriage in Scotland due to “religious pressure”. In a recent op-ed, though, he did little to hide his preference between the three candidates.
None of that trio, however, possesses the effrontery, the unembarrassability, the chutzpah and the ferocity which the SNP requires to pull it out of the already visible weakening and cracking of its political structure. Were Scotland to gain independence, a recent report by 4-Consulting points to a quarter of a million job losses, a sharp drop in output and deep cuts in public services, all hitting the worst-off the most. This repeats the findings of many such surveys over the past decade.
Only a leader able to ignore the dreary realities of secession’s inevitable impoverishment could again convince their people of the existence of a happy land not so far away. More than this, they would have to possess the will to dragoon the party into unity, should they hope to hold the nationalists’ lead into the future. Sturgeon, leading Salmond’s party in his style, kept the independence bubble from bursting. Assuming her resignation to be final, only Salmond, now shorn of a large source of Russian income, fits the job description. He may not be on the ballot, but no other figure visible has a realistic shot of delivering the long-vaunted promise that defines the very existence of his party.
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SubscribeMr. Lloyd describes Humza Yousaf as “ineffective”. I would have though “defective” would be more appropriate. As the Scottish Health Secretary, he is presiding over the implosion of NHS Scotland. Yet he has 17% more per head to spend on health. compared to the NHS in England. He manages to do less with more. When he was the Justice Secretary, he piloted a Hate Crime bill that could have been dictated by the mullah at his mosque. In Scotland, now, you can be presecuted for “hate speech”, even when the offending talk was in your own home.
Of Nicola, you say “Assuming her resignation to be final”, That would be a rash assumption. Her resignation is more of a tactical withdrawal than a retreat. There are several big-ticket bad news items in the offing: the half a billion pound ferries scandal, the SNP party finance scandal and the gender self-ID challenge, to name but a few. So definitely a good time for Nicola to re-charge her batteries on the backbenches at Holyrood ready for a comeback once her successor has taken the multiple hits dealing with the fallout from Nicola’s legacy.
Mr. Lloyd describes Humza Yousaf as “ineffective”. I would have though “defective” would be more appropriate. As the Scottish Health Secretary, he is presiding over the implosion of NHS Scotland. Yet he has 17% more per head to spend on health. compared to the NHS in England. He manages to do less with more. When he was the Justice Secretary, he piloted a Hate Crime bill that could have been dictated by the mullah at his mosque. In Scotland, now, you can be presecuted for “hate speech”, even when the offending talk was in your own home.
Of Nicola, you say “Assuming her resignation to be final”, That would be a rash assumption. Her resignation is more of a tactical withdrawal than a retreat. There are several big-ticket bad news items in the offing: the half a billion pound ferries scandal, the SNP party finance scandal and the gender self-ID challenge, to name but a few. So definitely a good time for Nicola to re-charge her batteries on the backbenches at Holyrood ready for a comeback once her successor has taken the multiple hits dealing with the fallout from Nicola’s legacy.
Salmond would be either mad or desperate. So he will be back.
Salmond would be either mad or desperate. So he will be back.
It would remain to be seen if he could replicate his former grandeur. If his personality was key, Alba would have been far more successful in recent elections. It bombed. His follow on career as a mouthpiece for Russian sate media and serious questions around his private conduct would seem unlikely to endear him to Scottish voters, especially not the younger, woke cohort that Sturgeon and Yousless have courted. Despite its many failings and Sturgeon’s departure, the SNP remains remarkably popular. Whether a new leader can maintain the uneasy coalition of old-school nationalists and metropolitan lefties remains to be seen. Given Labour, LD and Green support for the bill that sealed Sturgeon’s fate, a significant number of these lefties may now feel politically homeless (I know several such people who have torn up their SNP card). I wonder where they will go, or even if they will vote. Scottish politics is a mess.
It would remain to be seen if he could replicate his former grandeur. If his personality was key, Alba would have been far more successful in recent elections. It bombed. His follow on career as a mouthpiece for Russian sate media and serious questions around his private conduct would seem unlikely to endear him to Scottish voters, especially not the younger, woke cohort that Sturgeon and Yousless have courted. Despite its many failings and Sturgeon’s departure, the SNP remains remarkably popular. Whether a new leader can maintain the uneasy coalition of old-school nationalists and metropolitan lefties remains to be seen. Given Labour, LD and Green support for the bill that sealed Sturgeon’s fate, a significant number of these lefties may now feel politically homeless (I know several such people who have torn up their SNP card). I wonder where they will go, or even if they will vote. Scottish politics is a mess.
Bing back the conceited narcissist and serial groper? FFS! Any party that relies in his sort to appeal to voters does not deserve to be in power.
Bing back the conceited narcissist and serial groper? FFS! Any party that relies in his sort to appeal to voters does not deserve to be in power.
” A well of longing for independence”. Does this mean: “a sense of jealousy and resentment”?
” A well of longing for independence”. Does this mean: “a sense of jealousy and resentment”?
Very nice post. Thanks for sharing this information
The new leader of the SNP needs a be a man, or woman, or trans, who can bring some dignity, if not much in the way of intellectual heft, to the role. The obvious choice is Mel Gibson.
Yes: that well known Trans. (even if he doesn’t know it – yet)
”Third time lucky?”
It is a sad indictment of our society that such unpleasant individuals (so also Trump, Johnson and Netanyahu for example) still have a foothold in politics in reasonably democratic societies. Are people so desperate for seemingly strong leaders that they will ignore personality traits that would preclude such worms from decent society? Let’s face it, Hitler gathered quite a strong vote before he used that base to jackboot himself into power.
I’d rather vote for a virtuous human being with personal integrity who has political goals I do not agree with than an evil and corrupt one with whom I share goals. The question that I think needs asking, is where are the righteous people who are running for public office? Can’t we produce them in quantity any more?
I quite agree. However politicians, activists, the vulgarity of social media and the press have created such toxic soup of public life that what sensible person would try? Any argument for decency and civility is drowned out by personal attacks (often of the most grotesque nature), any decent honest person, even if they had the courage to ignore such things, would not inflict that horror on their loved ones. So, sadly, we get those be deserve.
I quite agree. However politicians, activists, the vulgarity of social media and the press have created such toxic soup of public life that what sensible person would try? Any argument for decency and civility is drowned out by personal attacks (often of the most grotesque nature), any decent honest person, even if they had the courage to ignore such things, would not inflict that horror on their loved ones. So, sadly, we get those be deserve.
I’d rather vote for a virtuous human being with personal integrity who has political goals I do not agree with than an evil and corrupt one with whom I share goals. The question that I think needs asking, is where are the righteous people who are running for public office? Can’t we produce them in quantity any more?
It is a sad indictment of our society that such unpleasant individuals (so also Trump, Johnson and Netanyahu for example) still have a foothold in politics in reasonably democratic societies. Are people so desperate for seemingly strong leaders that they will ignore personality traits that would preclude such worms from decent society? Let’s face it, Hitler gathered quite a strong vote before he used that base to jackboot himself into power.
Please can we just sell both Jockland and Orangeland to Canada?
I think that Ireland and France (The Auld Alliance) would be more appropriate than Canada, but I suspect that we would have to pay to have them taken away!
i thought that the The Auld Alliance was with Scotland
Indeed, that’s what I meant – my clumsy writing!
Indeed, that’s what I meant – my clumsy writing!
i thought that the The Auld Alliance was with Scotland
Only if we can sell Tanland to Pakistan and Nigeria
Sorry my ignorance is showing – what is Tanland?
Sorry my ignorance is showing – what is Tanland?
I think that Ireland and France (The Auld Alliance) would be more appropriate than Canada, but I suspect that we would have to pay to have them taken away!
Only if we can sell Tanland to Pakistan and Nigeria
Please can we just sell both Jockland and Orangeland to Canada?