First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that the general election was not about securing a second independence referendum has been undermined by one of her Highland candidates.
The SNP leader has gone to great lengths to try and persuade the public that a vote for the party was purely aimed at making Scotland’s voice stronger at Westminster but Drew Hendry takes a different view.
The Highland Council leader, who is hoping to unseat Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander who is defending a 8,765 majority, believes the contest is linked to the campaign to break up the UK.
In a candidate statement for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency, Mr Hendry said: “Winning this seat delivers a unique opportunity to take the next step on the road to achieving an independent Scotland.
“We can take it.
“We need to build on the 45% (percentage of Yes referendum votes cast) and win the required extra 15,000 votes at this election.
That’s no easy task but working together, with the right ambition, we will win this seat.”
Mr Hendry claimed he had the passion and determination to “deliver SNP policies and get results in a hostile political environment”.
Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Alex Neil, Social Justice, Communities, and Pensioners’ Rights Secretary, SNP candidate for the Western Isles Angus MacNeil and Highland MSP Mike MacKenzie have endorsed the statement.
Mr Alexander said: “What the SNP say in public and what they obsess over in private are two very different things.
“Here, in black and white, Mr Hendry is stating what we all know to be true, that despite last September’s result independence is still the SNP’s number one priority.
“I see this election is a step on the road to a better future for Highland communities and will continue to work in the best interests of all, no matter how they voted in September.”
Also standing in the constituency are Conservative candidate Edward Mountain, Mike Robb of Labour, Isla O’Reilly of the Greens, Ukip’s Les Durance and Donald Boyd of the Scottish Christian Party.
Meanwhile, Ms Sturgeon has insisted that even if the SNP was to win every single seat in Scotland on May 7, it would not be a “green light” for a second referendum on independence.
She said a vote for her party was not a mandate for a future referendum as she repeated her promise of a “democratic lock” on the issue.
Ms Sturgeon faced a grilling from young people on BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat on issues including Trident and mental health services.
Asked why she was “refusing to rule out” another referendum, she said: “I’m not refusing to rule it out or rule it in, I’m making the point that ultimately whether there’s another referendum is not my decision, it’s a decision for the majority of people in Scotland.
Ms Sturgeon was also challenged by the show’s host Chris Smith about her party’s “negative” message that a vote for the SNP would help to lock the Tories out of government.
“I think a lot of people in Scotland would see it not as negative but as actually quite positive,” she replied.