An ex-Fraserburgh councillor who lost his seat after 38 years when he defected to the Alba Party has rejoined the SNP.
Brian Topping told old friend Alex Salmond he was letting his membership lapse before the former first minister died on October 12.
The veteran nationalist even nearly ended up seeking a return to Aberdeenshire Council in this week’s Fraserburgh byelection – until his family said no.
Mr Topping says he has been campaigning for local SNP candidate Mike McDonald, in an area where Alba isn’t standing.
“A lot of friends in the SNP were keen to have me back,” Mr Topping told The Press and Journal.
“I was nearly standing at this byelection. The branch was keen.”
Mr Topping says his wife and kids were against the idea due to the amount of work he’d put in during his 38 years as a councillor.
“It’s only fair to my family,” he added.
Mr Topping says there were no hard feelings when he departed from Alba and he was devastated by longtime pal Mr Salmond’s death.
‘We were very close’
He told us: “Alex knew I was unhappy, but we didn’t have any falling out. He knew I hadn’t renewed.
“We were on the best of terms. I’m so upset at his passing. We were very close.
“Alex was the best politician in the UK. He could wipe the floor with any of them.”
The veteran councillor expected Alba to quickly fold after failing to gain any MSPs.
But he opted to stick with the pro-independence splinter group at the 2022 council election, despite warnings it would cost him his seat.
Mr Topping was seen as one of Alba’s best hopes but got just 5.8% of the vote.
“All my family and close friends said, Brian, stand as yourself,” he said.
“The few votes I did get, a lot of them were personal votes. I lost my seat, because Alba was obviously a new party.”
Mr Salmond’s new party appealed to Mr Topping because he could stand in the Holyrood and local elections without endangering other pro-independence candidates.
But it was a different story at Westminster, which has a winner-takes-all voting system.
Alba ran more than a dozen candidates in July.
‘Alex had his reasons’
Mr Topping said: “I wasn’t too happy. I’d even said to Alex, I don’t agree with that.”
But he understood why Mr Salmond had made the decision, even if he disagreed.
“In Alex’s defence, he’d written to Humza asking for a meeting trying to get the parties to meet.
“Humza didn’t even have the courtesy of giving Alex a reply. Alex had his reasons.”
He made a final plea for the movement to unite.
“Everything I’ve done has been about bringing folk together,” he said.
“I have nothing against Alba. I would still like the Yes movement to come together, so we can sing from the same song sheet.”
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