Scottish independence: Alex Salmond launches Alba party to rival SNP after civil war

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Alex Salmond today dramatically made a return to the political frontline by launching his own party after his civil war with Nicola Sturgeon.

The former First Minister said Alba – which means Scotland in Gaelic – will be fielding candidates at the elections in May, and will aim to secure a ‘supermajority’ for independence.

The intervention risks causing major problems for Ms Sturgeon, who is trying to use the vote as a platform for pushing to get another referendum as early as this year.

Saying he wants to become an MSP again, Mr Salmond appealed for Scots to ‘rally to our standard’ – but the 66-year-old insisted his intention is to complement the SNP’s mandate by taking votes from the Tories and Labour.

Alba is only standing ‘list’ candidates rather than running in constituency contests that could have hit the nationalists, with pollsters suggesting that means it is more likely to hurt opposition parties. 

‘Today, Alba is hoisting a flag in the wind, planting our Saltire on a hill,’ Mr Salmond said.

‘In the next few weeks, we’ll see how many will rally to our standard.’ 

The SNP dismissed the intervention as ‘predictable’ and said Mr Salmond should give up on ‘self-interest’ and reflect on his past mistakes. 

‘I’m announcing the public launch of a new political force: the Alba Party,’ Mr Salmond said in a statement broadcast on Twitter.

‘Alba will contest the upcoming Scottish elections as a list-only party under my leadership, seeking to build a super majority for independence in the Scottish Parliament.’

Mr Salmond used the statement to say he will stand as a candidate in the North East regional constituency and introduce three other hopefuls – including two who have apparently defected from the SNP.

They were Cllr Chris McEleny, laywer Eva Comrie, and businesswoman Cynthia Guthrie. The first two were expected to stand for Ms Sturgeon’s party.

Mr Salmond, who has previously served as both an MP and an MSP, said he hoped there could be 90 pro-independence politicians returned at the election if his ploy succeeds. 

A majority at Holyrood requires 65 – with polls suggesting the SNP is on track to get that number despite its support being hit recently.

He said the last Holyrood elections had one million ‘totally wasted’ independence votes on the regional list. 

The move takes Mr Salmond’s extraordinary public spat with Ms Sturgeon – the fallout from which has been hammering backing for splitting up the union – into a new phase.

An SNP spokesman said: ‘This is perhaps the most predictable development in Scottish politics for quite some time.

‘At this time of crisis, the interests of the country must come first and should not be obscured by the self interest of someone who shows no sign whatsoever of reflecting on serious concerns about his own conduct – concerns which, to put it mildly, raise real questions about the appropriateness of a return to public office.

‘The SNP has led the country through the last 12 months of the Covid pandemic, and at this election we offer the experienced, responsible and forward-looking leadership that the country needs.

‘Our plans to get Scotland through and out of the Covid crisis, and support a recovery with fairness and equality at its heart, with the opportunity to put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands, will be the focus of our election campaign.

‘The only way to secure strong leadership, a referendum on independence, and a positive future for the country is to cast both votes for the SNP on May 6.’

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said Mr Salmond was a ‘discredited figure’ and ‘right-thinking people will want nothing to do with him or his new party’.

‘The Scottish Conservatives are the only party in Scotland with the strength and determination to take on all Nationalists – whether that’s Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP or Salmond’s rabble,’ he said.

‘This election has become even more important. There is a stark choice between destructive Nationalist separation and a positive future for Scotland and our place in the United Kingdom.

‘One one side is Salmond, Sturgeon and a Labour party too weak to stand up to them with the Scottish Conservatives firmly on the other.

‘We will do everything possible to block another divisive referendum and ensure the Scottish Parliament works towards rebuilding and recovery after the pandemic.’

A Survation poll published yesterday found most Scots backing staying in the UK for the first time since 2019 – albeit only be a margin of 51 to 49. 

A month ago nationalists were celebrating as the 22nd poll in a row showed a majority in favour of independence.

Since then six out of eight polls have shown unionists in the lead.

The SNP has also suffered a fall in support, casting doubt on what previously looked like a certain majority at Holyrood.

According to Survation, SNP support has dipped by six points in three weeks to 46 per cent, with Labour on 23, Tories on 21 and the Lib Dems on 8 per cent.

Mr Salmond sparked a rift that threatened to tear the SNP apart by accusing senior figures in the part of conspiring to get him out of public life by fuelling harassment claims. 

In a bid to dampen a backlash for taking on his old party, he told potential supporters to vote for the SNP in constituency seats.

‘The Alba Party is a list party, we are standing only in the list,’ he said.

‘We are not challenging the SNP in the constituencies.

‘Indeed we are saying vote SNP or for an independence party on the constituency section.

‘We are giving that support. Our campaign that we have launched is going to be entirely positive.’ 

Earlier this week Mr Salmond announced he is taking the Scottish Government to court yet again in his first public statement since Ms Sturgeon survived two inquiries.

The former first minister accepted the verdicts of the parliamentary committee and Hamilton Inquiry – albeit hitting out at their ‘manifest limitations’.

But he railed that nobody had resigned over the Government’s botched harassment investigation into him, and singled out the country’s most senior civil servant. 

He said he was now bringing legal action against the ‘conduct’ of permanent secretary Leslie Evans for her role in the handling of sexual harassment claims against him. He was awarded more than £500,000 in a judicial review and later cleared of allegations in a trial. 

The Holyrood inquiry conducted by a committee of MSPs was highly critical of Ms Evans in its report published this week. She has defended her handing.

The report also accused the current First Minister of misleading Parliament in a potential breach of the ministerial code.

But Ms Sturgeon dismissed this verdict as ‘partisan’ and instead concentrated on the independent probe by James Hamilton QC, which ruled she did not break the code.

Ms Sturgeon was also cleared of claims made by Mr Salmond of orchestrating a concerted conspiracy to bring him down.