Former Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil has joined the Alba Party and hopes to mount a political comeback at Holyrood in the 2026 election.
The ex-SNP politician branded his old party “clueless” in the pursuit of independence and believes Alba can finally be successful in the Scottish Parliament.
Mr MacNeil lost his constituency at the Westminster election after being expelled from the SNP and running as an independent.
He picked up over 10% of the vote in July’s contest, more than any Alba candidate has managed during the party’s existence.
Mr MacNeil’s decision to join Alba comes just days after a memorial service was held for the late Alex Salmond, who founded the party in 2021.
“Now is the time to kick-start the push for the independence,” Mr MacNeil told The Press and Journal.
“It’s a chicken and egg situation for Alba.
“If enough of us get serious, it’s a ready-made vehicle for independence to move forward.”
Mr MacNeil did not defect to Alba previously when he was kicked out of the SNP.
“Because I’d been an independent, I just carried on that way”, he said.
“After the election I spoke to Alex, and I said we’d give Labour six months and let them have their honeymoon.
“We did joke the honeymoon was shorter than expected.”
‘The past is the past’
Given Mr MacNeil has been a long-term critic of the SNP’s strategy on independence, does he regret not joining Alba when the party was formed?
“I suppose it’s a difficult one to know for certain,” he said.
“The past is the past. We have to deal with what we have at the moment.”
He does wish he had spoken out more vocally about the SNP’s dismissal of Alba’s “two votes strategy” to maximise the number of pro-independence MSPs.
“It’s a lot easier for me now,” he said.
“The SNP is clueless and disinterested about getting independence.
“They’ve no plan at all.
“There are a lot of good people in the SNP, but they can’t achieve anything on independence when the hierarchy has thwarted debate for years.
“The SNP left me, I didn’t leave them.”
So far Alba’s electoral hopes have only ended in disappointment.
But Mr MacNeil believes the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform party shows it is possible.
“Reform are coming from a standing start,” he said. “It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe you can, you will.”
Mr MacNeil, from Barra, reckons he will stand in the Western Isles at the next election.
But he stressed that will be a choice for party members.
“I don’t know if I’m standing,” he said.
“I’ll make myself available, but that’s a decision for Alba members.”
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