Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Voters in Alex Salmond’s home village can’t vote Alba in Aberdeenshire by-elections – why not?

The former first minister’s party is not running any candidates in three separate contests across the north-east this week.

Alex Salmond, pictured in Strichen, founded the Alba Party. Image: Chris Sumner.
Alex Salmond, pictured in Strichen, founded the Alba Party. Image: Chris Sumner.

Voters in Alex Salmond’s home village of Strichen can cast their ballots in an Aberdeenshire Council by-election on Thursday, just nine days after the former first minister was laid to rest.

But they won’t be able to vote for the pro-independence party he founded in the Central Buchan council ward.

The Alba Party is also not fielding candidates in the Fraserburgh or Mearns byelections, all held on the same day in an unusual triple contest.

That decision may seem strange given Mr Salmond identified the north-east as the key target for Alba in 2026, before his sudden death on October 12.

Alex Salmond was a familiar face in Strichen. Image: Kath Flannery

The ex-SNP leader had hoped to stand in the Banffshire and Buchan Coast constituency at the next Holyrood election, where he might have stood a chance of re-election.

Why did Alba stay out of the three crucial by-elections, and what does it mean for the future of the party Mr Salmond founded?

Would a bad result undermine Alba?

Polling expert Allan Faulds, who runs website Ballot Box Scotland, said he was surprised Alba is not standing.

The party contested all three wards at the 2022 local elections – with two defecting SNP councillors on the ballot as well.

It was hoped Aberdeenshire might be a region where Alba could see some success.

Standing there could have been a useful testing ground less than two years out from the next Scottish Parliament vote.

“This should be a heartland area for them,” Mr Faulds told The Press and Journal.

The funeral was held in Strichen. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson.

That heartland includes Strichen, where Mr Salmond’s funeral was held for family and close friends last Tuesday.

Mr Salmond had set targets for Alba to win at least 20 MSPs at the next Holyrood vote.

That was seen as a particularly bold claim given nobody has actually ever been elected standing for the pro-independence group.

Alba gained just over 2.3% of the vote in the North East region in 2021.

Even Mr Salmond’s name being on the ballot couldn’t tempt many SNP supporters to lend his new party their support.

Mr Faulds wonders if the risk of an embarrassing night for the pro-independence party may have influenced the decision not to run.

“The cynic in me says they don’t have the candidates and don’t think they’d do well with paper candidates,” he said.

“Doing so would risk undermining largely unsupported claims they are on track for MSPs in 2026,” he said.

‘We’re committed to the north-east’

An Alba spokesperson admitted the election being called at short notice affected the party’s ability to find candidates.

The party says it put heavy resources into a Dundee by-election, where the local candidate gained more than 5% of the vote.

The spokesperson said: “We’re obviously committed to the north-east of Scotland.

“Voters can be rest assured they’ll be hearing plenty from the Alba Party.”


Full list of Aberdeenshire candidates

Fraserburgh and District

  • Sandy Leslie (LibDem)
  • Mike McDonald (SNP)
  • Conrad Ritchie (Reform)
  • Dawn Smith (Scottish Family Party)
  • Iain Sutherland (Cons)

Mearns

  • Isobel Knights (LibDem)
  • Claudia Leith (Reform)
  • William Linegar (Green)
  • Hannah Scot (SNP)
  • Tracey Smith (Cons)

Central Buchan

  • Ian Bailey (LibDem)
  • Peter Chapman (Cons)
  • Andrew Curwen (Reform)
  • Phil Reynolds (Scottish Family Party)
  • Dean Ward (Independent)
  • Sarah Wilken (SNP)

Conversation