SNP faces indy party challenge

A FORMER Nationalist MSP has backed a new breakaway party – despite Nicola Sturgeon saying pro-independence supporters should not vote for it.

John Wilson, who was an MSP under Alex Salmond from 2007, but quit to sit as an independent after the 2014 referendum and lost his seat two years later, pledged support for the new Alliance for Independence campaign.

The new party, spearheaded by former MSP Dave Thompson, will attempt to win votes on the regional list to boost the number of pro-independence MSPs at Holyrood after next year’s elections.

But Miss Sturgeon said in an interview published at the weekend that she would be urging supporters to give both their votes to the SNP and called for her party to remain ‘united’.

Mr Wilson, who represented the Central Scotland region, told the Daily Record: ‘In 2016, the overwhelming majority of second SNP votes produced little or nothing for the independence movement. In Central, the SNP took every seat and the second vote became a wasted vote.

‘I don’t think it causes confusion. My view is voters are looking to maximise their vote. They are the ones who want to drive home the argument for independence. This is an opportunity for other political figures to be involved.’

Former Nationalist MP George Kerevan said yesterday he is losing patience with the SNP leadership for failing to campaign in the streets for independence.

He told a demonstration in Edinburgh, organised by the All Under One Banner group: ‘I’m the first to congratulate our Government on how it has handled the Covid crisis.

‘But I’m also worried that, for the last three years – essentially since the 2017 general election – the party leadership...has refused to campaign in the streets for independence.’