Now second MSP is axed in SNP’s vote bloodbath
THE SNP’s selection battle for next year’s Holyrood election has become a bloodbath after another MSP was ruthlessly sacked by members.
Yesterday, a high-profile Nationalist broke ranks to accuse members of ‘brutal’ behaviour as the party’s iron discipline shows cracks for the first time since the referendum.
It is almost unheard of for sitting MSPs to be ditched, yet Angus North MSP Nigel Don was deselected for the 2016 Holyrood election on Thursday evening – just 24 hours after Edinburgh Western MSP Colin Keir was also shown the door.
Elsewhere in the country, many local branches are gripped by infighting.
A power struggle has erupted between seasoned activists because polls suggest the SNP will win a landslide victory next year, and many have their eye on a £58,000-a-year job as an MSP.
One SNP insider told the Mail the ‘real fight’ is the internal selection contest, as winning the seats in next May’s election will be ‘easy’.
Mr Keir, first elected to represent Edinburgh Western in 2011, is a popular figure at Holyrood. But in a dramatic example of the ruthlessness of the SNP, Toni Giugliano, Mr Keir’s own former parliamentary aide and a high-profile independence campaigner, has been selected for the seat. In a major intervention, veteran Nationalist MSP Christine Grahame, who is close friends with Mr Keir, told the Scottish Daily Mail: ‘I’m very saddened to see a hard-working constituency MSP dismissed so brutally.’
Such public criticism is incredibly rare in a party that has become the most disciplined in Britain.
On Thursday evening, Angus North and Mearns MSP Mr Don was dumped by members in a close vote that saw local councillor Mairi Evans win the selection contest. Mr Don was first elected to parliament in 2007. Miss Evans wrote on Twitter: ‘Feeling absolutely honoured, delighted, excited and extremely privileged to have been selected as the SNP candidate for Angus North and Mearns.’
The deselections are thought to be the first of sitting constituency MSPs or MPs since Labour ousted East Lothian MP Anne Moffat in 2010. There was a long and bitter dispute about her performance and style in the local party.
The SNP has, however, used Holyrood’s regional list system in the past to effectively deselect politicians. In 2011, Glasgow MSP Anne McLaughlin was put so far down the list that she was unlikely to return – and did not manage to do so. She has, however, since won a Westminster seat.
More famously, much-loved MSP Margo MacDonald was effectively deselected when her position on the l i st of top- up candidates slipped from first to fifth, seemingly dashing her hopes of re-election in 2003. But she decided to stand as an independent candidate, winning more than 27,000 votes and going on to win again in 2007 and 2011, before her death in 2014.
Elsewhere in Scotland, there have been several internal battles in constituencies that are not now represented by the SNP.
In Eastwood, East Renfrewshire, West of Scotland MSP Stewart Maxwell was the sole nominee for the ballot paper and yet was backed only by 59 votes to 50. Local councillor Vincent Waters was said to be eyeing up the seat after playing a major role in defeating Jim Murphy in the general election, but reportedly failed to pass the selection process.
Last week, it emerged that the SNP’s only Chinese councillor had quit the party after claiming she was subjected to ‘bullying’.
Yen Hongmei Jin was hopeful of becoming a Holyrood candidate in Dumfriesshire, but found herself up against senior Nationalist MSP Joan McAlpine, Alex Salmond’s former parliamentary liaison, who secured the support of the former First Minister and was ultimately nominated unanimously to contest the seat in 2016.
Minutes of the l ocal branch meeting i n June state that a member proposed Miss Jin as the candidate. The document adds: ‘[Organiser] Kerry Willacy explains that no one can seek nomination until such time that they are on the approved candidate register.’
In Uddingston and Bellshill, many local members are angry that Central Scotland MSP Richard Lyle has been selected to fight the seat, according to sources. A local councillor, David Baird, was reportedly hopeful of getting his name on the ballot paper, but failed.
An SNP spokesman said: ‘ The SNP’s candidate selection is an open and democratic process where the decisions rest firmly with our membership.’
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