A few days ago, the Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, who has had quite the impressive resume as an MSP, announced her intention to stand down in May next year for the Scottish Parliamentary elections.
This is an unquestionably immense blow to the SNP’s future prospects. The First Minister John Swinney and his Cabinet were certainly shocked, to say the least, even after the years of mistreatment by the extreme wings of their party and others.
She could have become First Minister. And I believe, with her great record in government, would have made a strong leader for Scotland. Improving our economy, strengthening Scotland’s energy sector and working with other parties to deliver Independence.
Alas, we got Humza. And then honest John. Pity.
She could return. Former SNP MP Stewart McDonald said that he still hopes she will one day become First Minister.
Perhaps she could be. But that won’t be anytime soon.
That is why the Independence movement needs to act now. We need competent, in-touch and energetic candidates ready to lead Scotland.
That is why the Independence movement needs to act now. We need competent, in-touch and energetic candidates ready to lead Scotland.
In short: SNP 1, ALBA 2.
Now that will be a bitter pill to swallow for both sides.
But let’s be smart and careful about this. The SNP have always dominated the constituencies, that includes the latest 2021 election.
So, neither Alba, nor any other Independence party, realistically have a chance of winning many seats in the constituency. It would mean voting SNP would be the best result for the Independence movement rather than wasting it on any other party.
However, similarly, it would also be a disaster to vote SNP on the list ballot. The SNP won only two MSPs on the regional list. Even with over a million votes, it remained a largely Unionist arena.
If those votes had gone to Alba, then the Unionist seats would have been cut in half. Alba would have around 20 seats or so. This would make a decisive majority for the pro-Independence parties, giving us the mandate to deliver it. In the end, we failed in 2021.
Now you may be asking ‘how would an election give a mandate for Independence?’
Look at it this way. The Nationalist parties can form a super majority and thus have the platform to commence negotiations with the UK Government after having received the decisive mandate for Independence, similar in 2011 without the hassle of another referendum, as confirmed by the Supreme Court, the former Cabinet Justice Secretary and even Margaret Thatcher confirmed as a legitimate legal basis for achieving Independence.
The aim here is to use the elections to put the demand as a de-facto referendum, if the Nationalists win a super majority. Previously a referendum was obviously the way to do it but since that’s currently been put down by the Westminster parties the route is by the election.
Even incumbent Prime Minister Keir Starmer himself affirmed this view in 2020 that the people of Scotland have the mandate alone.
So if Westminster keeps saying ‘no’ then the situation will be totally untenable for them. There will be a direct conflict of interest and total hostility between Holyrood and Westminster if the latter keeps denying the rights to the former. And the people will see that happen. Negotiations for Independence will be inevitable.
So, let’s make 2026 the year for that mandate.
Many SNP councillors, former SNP politicians, regular SNP voters, and even 43 rebel branches of the SNP, led by former MP and MEP Alyn Smith, have called for the pro-Indy parties to come and work together.
I say this to both SNP and Alba voters: Please put aside your differences or past grievances.
Think of the future of your children, grandchildren, other loved ones, your communities and your country, when figuring out which party to vote for. What will they say if we mess this up? We can’t afford to make that mistake like we did in 21’.
We will have our disagreements, of course. The time will come for us to face each other. Let us debate and discuss them out like adults.
But do not let partisanship cause discord among our movement, for we all want the same thing; Scottish Independence.
Let’s achieve the Dream and make it a reality.
Hell will freeze over before I vote SNP again. I will be voting for Jeremy Corbyn’s party and will wait for Scotland to be decolonized by the C-24.
That I absolutely your prerogative, but I would strongly advice against voting for a Unionist party, especially one that is on the extreme woke end. Alba can and will hold the SNP and any other Independence parties to account for the issues it disagrees on. But it would be impossible to do so with the Unionists in charge. We need to be smart about this.
Lewis thank you for responding. If what I am hearing about JC new party Scotland is going to be given a choice on the Constitutional question if this is correct then I’d be a fool as would anyone who wants Independence not to vote for that. Lets remember its only JC who can win a Westminster election and we both know that the SNP will never ever delivery Independence but love’s to blame Westminster. I going to give JC’s party my 1st vote and liberate Scotland my second vote. I’m annoyed that Alba hasn’t signed up to liberate Scotland, when it was the Alba party who was arguing the SNP was blocking progress in achieving Independence, well look who’s doing it now.
Your spam filter is blocking genuine email address from posting, I thought I’d just let you know.
Hello again, I apologise for my late reply. I do believe you’re arguing your case in good faith unlike others and have genuine substance so I’ll respond carefully.
I understand what the members of Corbyn’s new party has said on Independence, but I can’t believe it. It will be a predominantly English party, Scots too, yes, but a largely English-based movement and I feel many of them will be naturally inclined to create a socialist Britain, not one where Scotland has detached from it. Corbyn is a Unionist, let’s make no doubt about that, as he has said in the past. I imagine many of his colleagues are too, so we have to be very cautious in regards to this party’s policy on Independence. But if you want to support them anyway then why not just vote for Corbyn’s party in the Westminster elections and vote for an Independence party in Holyrood? Voting any other Independence party, while well-intended, is a wasted vote. Alba has been on the polls to have a chance at winning seats, the only one to do so. The reason I will be voting SNP 1/ALBA 2, and hoping others will too, is because we will be in a much more dangerous position and will have a harder time holding any Unionist party, Corbyn’s included accountable to the cause. We can’t realistically work with Labour, the Tories, Reform UK or the Lib Dems, so it surely must be the SNP, the only party we can cooperate with and hold to account. I want people to put their disagreements with the SNP aside and do this for the cause, that’s what I’ll be doing anyway.
Thank you for your comment.
Freeport Forbes has done the British states bidding giving away large parts of our country, her work is done she won’t be back and won’t be missed.
I agree with you Alan, I hope she pays for whats she done.
I am with 100%YES, EXCEPT for the bit where he/she will vote for a UNIONIST Party……plus I do NOT agree with your statement in regard to Kate Forbes…”with her great record in government” What record is that then? SHE has sold Scotland out with her freeports, she avoided all big ticket issues like the vote on Gay Marriage, the GRR bill, They say her religion means the world to her, so why did she sit quietly while women were being trashed by the likes of Sturgeon & Redactorman Swiney still can’t tell the difference between a man & a woman.. I liked Kate, I hoped she would win the leadership contest, But she sold out, accepting Deputy FM, proved that HER career came before this country.. She was USED, offered Deputy FM so that SHE was the one to sign off on the FREEPORTS, to fly that easily, is not someone who could not be bought off again by WM..
It is people like you & this post, that is holding this country back, Bcos NEVER will Swiney work on Indy for this country, neither will all the LOSERS that lost out in the 2024 WM GE, who are now being offered seats in HR..
I am 76 yrs old, I had ONLY ever voted for the SNP with my very first vote, I am a lifetime Independentista, I knocked doors for the SNP when they were less of a party than ALBA is today..I believe Alex Salmond to be the best FM this country has had, as he did mitigate a LOPT to help the people of this country.
BUT Alex too made mistakes, BIG ones, he had poor judgement in those he picked to be in his cabinet, he ASKED WM for permission to hold a referendum, one that even if we voted YES, WM could over turn.. HE also used the wrong franchise on who had the right to vote in that referendum.. Ppl with second homes here got to vote, everyone living here from any part of the world got the vote..
NO country does that, I have NO objection to someone who moved here and had lived here for say 10yrs making Scotland their HOME.. Same with those from Europe, some have been here for decades, others months & just a year or so, but all whom WM &b Better Together targeted, yelling them IF Scotland voted YES, we would be OUT of the EU, (which we would have been & I say thank God to that. one corrupt UNION was enough to deal with) But they the EUROPEANS would have to leave if a NO vote..
It is a fact that Indigenous Scots voted voted almost 53% YES, we were outvoted by the English & those from Europe..
BREXIT happened and NONE of the Europeans living anywhere on the island of Britain got to vote in that ENGLISH Referendum..
So yes, mistakes were made in our referendum, but one this has been proven, Scotland will NEVER win a referendum that is sought by permission of WM.. And the SNP of today are not even seeking one, Starmer himself said Swiney has never asked my about a referendum..
ALBA are not popular enough with the public, as most ppl (myself included, even though I joined them as a founding member after I left the SNP in 2017 and was homeless) I left ALBA after their first Conference in Greenock, Because Alex said in his speech that he would use the SAME FRANCHISE as 2014.. I realised them, ALKBA were only the SNP mk2..
What we need is to RID this country of the SNP, There are die hard abstainers of WM standing in 2026, people who do NOT recognise WM are their masters, They are who the people of this country should be voting for, They are also brave enough to challenge the SNP on the constituency seats, proving they are determined, unlike ALBA who want to piggy back on the LIST only…
Until Scots STOP voting for the SNP, & start voting for the true Independentistas, You will know them when you hear the take their oath to the SOVEREIGN SCOTS, NOT to the ENGLISH King, when they Swear to abstain from ever standing for the English Parliament of WM..
These people are not going into the 2016 election for the gravy train salaries and expenses, they are going in to make themselves redundant by fighting and getting Independence for this country..
It is they that any indy believer should be giving BOTH votes to.. They may NOT win big enough to become the Government, but they will certainly not vote for issues like GRR or Hate Crime bills, They will OPPOSE such stupidity, if the SNP win enough to still be in power, they will be held to account by the people from LIBERTY SCOTLAND & Hopefully from any other smaller indy party if they win seats like SSP & ALBA…
This is the route to Independence.. GET RID of SNP and REBUILD and start overweigh people who will STOP WM bleeding this country dry as they have every other country they COLONISED…
Swiney & Co can get us Independence TODAY, via our Claim of Right & the people being SOVEREIGN… They won’t even try, they are their to line their own pockets & bump up their bank accounts and pensions…UNLIKE LIBERTY SCOTLAND candidates..
Thankyou Kate for putting into words my thoughts . My question is what do you do if you don’t have any other independent party standing in your area for the list vote, who do we vote for ?