Alba Party Pàrtaidh Alba | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Kenny MacAskill[1] |
| Chairwoman | Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh |
| Director of Operations | Corri Wilson[2] |
| Depute Leader | Neale Hanvey |
| Founded | 26 March 2021; 4 years ago (26 March 2021) |
| Split from | Scottish National Party[3] |
| Headquarters | 17 Forth Street Glasgow G41 2SP |
| Membership(March 2025) | 5,002[4] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-left[14] tocentre-right[15] |
| National affiliation | Scotland United |
| Colours | Blue White |
| Slogan | Now is the Time |
| House of Commons (Scottish seats) | 0 / 57 |
| Scottish Parliament | 0 / 129 |
| Local government | 2 / 1,226 |
| Website | |
www | |
TheAlba Party (Scottish Gaelic:Pàrtaidh Alba;Alba being the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland) is aScottish nationalist andpro-independence political party inScotland. Founded in February 2021, it was led by formerfirst minister of Scotland and SNP leaderAlex Salmond until his death in 2024. Salmond launched the party's2021 Scottish Parliament election campaign in March 2021, with the party standing only region (list) candidates, but no constituency candidates.
Two members of Parliament (MPs) in theUK House of Commons defected from theScottish National Party (SNP) to the Alba Party on 27 March 2021, and amember of the Scottish ParliamentAsh Regan defected on 28 October 2023. Several former SNP MPs also joined the Alba Party.
In the2024 general election, the Alba Party stood candidates in 19 constituencies across Scotland but achieved just 11,784 votes and won no seats. All their candidates lost theirdeposits.[16]
Alex Salmond served as leader of theScottish National Party (SNP) from 1990 to 2000 and again from 2004 to 2014, and asFirst Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014.[citation needed] He was succeeded in both positions in 2014 by his former deputy,Nicola Sturgeon. Salmond resigned from the SNP in 2018 followingaccusations of sexual misconduct, which he denied.[17] He was acquitted of charges made against him in asubsequent court case in March 2020.[18] Later that year, the possibility of Salmond leading a new party supporting Scottish independence was discussed, in the context ofa feud between Sturgeon and Salmond, who accused Sturgeon's "inner circle" of plotting against him.[19] Polling conducted in July 2020 reported that 40% of those who voted SNP at the 2019 general election would back a new independence-supporting party if it was led by Salmond.[19][20]
The party was founded and registered with theElectoral Commission by the retired television producer Laurie Flynn on 8 February 2021.[citation needed][21]Alba (pronounced[ˈal̪ˠapə] inScottish Gaelic andScottish English,/ˈælbə/ inBritish English[22]) is the Gaelic name for Scotland.[23] On 26 March 2021, Salmond announced at the party's election launch that he had joined the party and would become the new leader, taking over from Flynn, after "discussions with Laurie and others from other list parties" over the prior weeks.[24] During the announcement of candidates, it gained its first elected member, councillor Chris McEleny, who previously had served as the SNP group leader onInverclyde Council[25] and was due to be an SNP candidate for the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.[26] The MPsKenny MacAskill andNeale Hanvey, as well as the former MPCorri Wilson, joined the party on 26 March.[27][28] The SNP's national equalities convener, Lynne Anderson, also defected to Alba.[29] BBC Scotland's political editorGlenn Campbell said the list of defectors to the party included "those who fear thatgender self-identification for trans people poses a threat to women's rights" as well as politicians who personally support Salmond and his approach to Scottish independence.[30]
The party announced plans to stand at least four candidates for the list vote in every region in the2021 Scottish Parliament election.[31] Intended candidates included Salmond standing for theNorth East Scotland region as well as former SNP members Chris McEleny standing for theWest Scotland region, Eva Comrie for theMid Scotland and Fife region (for which she was previously the SNP candidate),[citation needed] and Cynthia Guthrie for theSouth Scotland region.[24][32] Caroline McAllister, the SNP's women's convener and depute leader ofWest Dunbartonshire council, joined the party and was announced as a candidate in the West Scotland region.[33] The party endorsed voting for the SNP in the constituency vote while voting for the Alba Party for the list vote, to ensure more pro-independence MSPs are elected.[34]
On 26 March 2021, the Leader ofAction for Independence, former SNP MSPDave Thompson, stated that the party would be standing down all their candidates to support Alba.[35][36]Tommy Sheridan who had been seeking election as part of Action for Independence, joined the Alba Party on 28 March.[37] On 29 March, former professional boxerAlex Arthur was announced as a list candidate, whilst former SNP MPsGeorge Kerevan andTasmina Ahmed-Sheikh and former MSPJim Eadie joined later that day.[38][39]
The party failed to win any seats in the election,[40] after attracting only 1.7% of the vote.[41] It received 44,000 votes which was enough proportionally to win two or three seats, but its support was spread across multiple regions, with no concentration large enough to produce a seat.[42][43] Salmond said that the party's results were "creditable" given its recent founding.[44] Some commentators argued that Alba had benefitted Sturgeon individually by removing some of her most vocal internal party critics from the political scene.[45]
A few months after the election, on 28 June 2021, the Electoral Commission rejected all seven of Alba's official descriptions. In a round-up of recent decisions, the Commission said all seven proposed ballot paper slogans failed to "meet the requirements of a description".[46]
Sturgeon and the SNP criticised the new party, questioning Salmond's fitness to take public office given the sexual harassment claims against him.[47][48] Sturgeon said she would refuse to have any dealings with Salmond unless he apologises to the women who had accused him of harassment.[49] Alex Salmond refused to apologise duringhis titular sexual harassment scandal and was found not guilty of 12 charges, andnot proven of one.[50]
Lorna Slater, co-leader of theScottish Greens, also criticised the new party, describing it as "a party thrown together",Neil Mackay called the party "Trumpian" and "a hotchpotch of social conservatives and nationalist fundamentalists".[51] The party was further criticised as "cynical" for potentially usingwomen's rights as a campaign issue despite making misleading statements about one of their candidates' role inGlasgow City Council's equal pay dispute.
In April 2021, Margaret Lynch claimed that the SNP's Scottish Government was fundingLGBT rights groups that wanted to lower the age of consent to 10 years old.[52][53] The SNP described this as "untrue" and Lynch was later criticised by Scottish Greens co-leaderPatrick Harvie.The Scotsman repeated her claim that LGBT organisations which received "£2.8 million of Scottish public funds" have signed a letter advocating lowering the age of consent to 10 years of age.[54]LGBT charityStonewall called on Lynch to retract the allegation about their organisation and apologise.[55]ILGA World released the statement that the claims are dangerous and irresponsible, that they urge those making or sharing them, to stop".[56]LGBT Youth Scotland described Lynch's claims as "vicious lies" and "an act of prejudice and discrimination that repeats harmful myths".[57] When asked byThe Scotsman whether Lynch's position was also that of the party, Alba refused to comment.[58] Former SNP councillor Austin Sheridan left the Alba Party, describing Lynch's comments stating there was "no way I can be part of a party that tolerates such views.[59][60] In an article inThe Times, Lynch claimed that trans rights would allow access by "sexual predators".[61] However, Alba as a party had not condemned the claim made by Lynch, members citing theIsla Bryson case during theGender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill push through where Bryson, a trans woman, was jailed within a women-only prison for sexually assaulting two women before transitioning.[62] Bryson was later relocated to a male-only prison, receiving eight years in jail.[63]
For the2022 Scottish local elections, the Alba Party announced that 111 candidates would be standing in councils across Scotland to win as many as possible. Salmond launched the party's manifesto at theCaird Hall inDundee with the main aim of electing the first councillors under the Alba banner. Ahead of the election, Salmond said that he was confident that the party would win seats.
The party failed to win any seats at the election, attracting 0.7% of first preference votes.[64] All of the councillors who defected to the party from the SNP failed to be elected, including Christopher McEleny, the party's General Secretary who only received 126 votes. In response to the result, Salmond expressed his disappointment with the outcome and said that it would take time for the party to build enough support to have candidates elected.[65]
The week after the elections, Kamran Butt, who although not elected was the most successful Alba candidate, defected to the SNP. He claimed that joining the SNP was the only way that independence and strong governance could be delivered in Scotland.[66] The same day, Salmond stated that all pro-independence parties needed to work together if Scottish independence was to be achieved. He said that theproposed 2023 independence referendum would need to take place, but if it didn't then there would be huge political change in Scotland in which Alba would play a strong part.[67]
In December 2022, polling suggested that Alba could win seats at thenext Scottish Parliament election. 34% of voters who backed the SNP in the 2021 Scottish Parliament constituency vote said they would vote for Alba with their regional list ballot to return a greater number of pro-independence MSPs, with 19% support overall.[68]
In August 2023, Alba came under fire, after featuring a poster of then prime minister,Rishi Sunak, as vampire, with the slogan "No wonder he's laughing, he's got Scotland's oil." The same poster had been used againstMargaret Thatcher by the SNP in the 1980's in response to the extracting of oil in theNorth Sea. Conservative MSPMurdo Fraser accused the party of racism, which was denied by Chris McEleny, who said: "In a democratic society, a political message that criticises the government of the day and the way it squanders resources is completely legitimate."[69][70][71][72]
In late August 2023, Alba announced they would not contest theOctober Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, called after former SNP MPMargaret Ferrier was suspended from the House of Commons and recalled from her seat for breaching COVID-19 regulations. They accused the SNP of rebuffing their call for only one pro-independence candidate and said that this would allow the SNP to "fly solo" in the ballot.[73][74] The seat was lost to Labour, who won an outright majority.
On 28 October 2023, formerleadership candidateAsh Regan defected to Alba becoming the party's firstmember of the Scottish parliament and the party leader in theScottish Parliament.[75] The same month the "Scotland United" technical group was formed in the House of Commons between Alba and independent MPAngus MacNeil.[76]
In 2024, Alba started a campaign in favour of keeping theGrangemouth Refinery open.[77][78]
In March 2024, Eva Comrie, the party's equalities convener who was also a founding member of the party, resigned from Alba, citing comments made by the party's women's convener,Yvonne Ridley, that trans-women are "assigned male at birth" as the reason. As a result, Salmond announced that Ridley was stepping down from the role.[79][80][81]
In November 2023, Salmond confirmed that the Alba Party would field candidates at the2024 United Kingdom general election.[82] In total, 19 candidates stood, including their sitting MPs: Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey.[83] At a press conference prior to candidate nominations closing, Salmond confirmed that he was not among the Alba candidates to be seeking election, instead telling journalists that it was his intention to contest theBanffshire and Buchan Coast seat at the next Scottish Parliament election.[84][85][86]
The Proclaimers endorsed the party's campaign to save the Grangemouth Oil Refinery in the election.[87]
In the election, Alba received 11,784 votes (0.5%), and were unsuccessful in returning any MPs.[88]Additionally, none of the candidates were successful in retaining their £500 election deposit, having failed to reach the 5% threshold required to do so.[89]Their best result came inCowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, where Hanvey took 2.8% of the vote.[90][91] MacAskill received 638 votes (1.5%) inAlloa and Grangemouth, coming behind Eva Comrie who ran as anindependent.[92][93][94] Alba did not put up candidates in the North East of Scotland.[95] As a result, Salmond admitted that he had voted SNP in his home constituency ofAberdeenshire North and Moray East.[96][97]
On 12 October 2024, Salmond died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 69, whilst attending an event in North Macedonia.[98] Under the party's constitution, the depute leader would become acting leader whenever the role is vacant, holding office until a leadership election could be held. As a result, Kenny MacAskill became the interim leader.[99]
On 9 January 2025, Ash Regan announced that she would be running in theleadership election to succeed Salmond.[100][101][102][103]In addition to the election of a new leader, the party also had a contest for the role of depute leader, which saw Chris McEleny and Neale Hanvey stand for the position.[104][105]On 26 March 2025, MacAskill was announced as the next leader of Alba, securing 52.3% of the vote to Regan's 47.7%.[106][107] Hanvey won the depute leadership election.[108]
In April 2025, MacAskill announced that Alba would once again field list-only candidates at the2026 Scottish Parliament election.[109]
Alba chose not to field a candidate for the2025 Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, which was held due to the death of the SNP'sChristina McKelvie. The party said that their decision not to stand was as a mark of respect to McKelvie's work as an MSP, and to the wider independence movement.[110] Additionally, Alba reiterated their intention to run on the regional lists in 2026.[111]
Ash Regan withdrew from the party in October 2025 to sit as an independent MSP, leaving the party with no representation in the Parliament.[112] Later that monthHugh Kerr andCraig Murray left Alba to joinYour Party.[113][114] Kerr argued that Alba "was in its death throes” and "likely to die", while Murray argued that "the need for a real left-wing party is urgent". In response, MacAskill stated that he respects their decision to switch parties; he also stated that the Alba Party intends to treat the2026 Scottish Parliament election as a "de facto referendum" on Scottish independence and campaign on economic issues.[115]
The Alba Party is supportsScottish nationalism, advocatingScottish independence, as an "immediate necessity".[116] It describes its objective as being to build a "socially just and environmentally responsible" Scotland.[117] The party proposes that, now that the reign ofQueen Elizabeth II has ended, Scotland shouldbecome a republic with "an electedhead of state with similar powers to theUachtarán na hÉireann (the President of Ireland)", with the final document of awritten constitution for this purpose to be confirmed by a referendum.[9][10] Its platform also opposed proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act until a citizens' assembly can be formed to discuss and debate the perceived conflicts between sex- and gender-based rights.[118] Alex Salmond described holding agender-critical belief as a "cardinal aspect of ALBA policy".[119]
Alba supports a future independent Scotland joining theEuropean Free Trade Association (EFTA).[120] The party describes itself associal democratic[121] on its website and has politicians with a variety of positions as members, such asTommy Sheridan andGeorge Kerevan on the left-wing,[122][123] andKenny MacAskill on the centre-left.[124]Ash Regan, the long-standing MP of the party, was consideredcentre-right, but she left the party in October 2025.[112] According to Fraser McMillan, Alba's voters in the2021 Scottish Parliament election were found to be slightly to the left of the SNP supporters and did not meet "the profile of the socially conservative "alt-nat" caricature."[125]
In March 2022, Salmond unveiled a 38-page "Wee Alba Book" which makes the "fundamental case for independence", covering issues such as Europe, currency and borders.[126][127]
Alba is officially opposed to further gender reforms[128] as proposed by the SNP and Labour. Alex Salmond criticised the 2023Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill as the "worst legislation in the history of devolution".[129] Alba MSPAsh Regan cited this as a reason for joining Alba and has called for an end to further legal action against the section 35 ruling by theUK Government.[130]
The party officially describes itself as left-of-centre,[131] and claims to be more left-wing than the Scottish National Party.[132] Some political commentators, such asGerry Hassan, expressed skepticism of the party's claim to be "more left-wing and working class" than the SNP. Hassan noted that "it is not that difficult to find a position to the left of the current centrist SNP" and claimed that the Alba Party's allegiance to the left is superficial, predicting that the party would "in a populist manner attempt to position itself to the left of the SNP on the Growth Commission's economics, the currency question, public spending, and Trident."[133] Emilio Casalicchio writing forPolitico in 2023 called the party socially conservative,[13] andThe Guardian's Scotland editor, Severin Carrell labelled the party as centre-right in an article in 2024.>[15] In contrast,The National described Alba as a left-wing party.[134]
Regarding the party's ideology, Salmond stated: "I had an idea a while back when leading another political party. I thought that if the SNP could present as a coherent left of centre political party it could replace the Labour Party as the dominant force in Scottish politics. As it was for the SNP and Labour so is it now for Alba and the SNP."[135] After Salmond's death in 2024,George Kerevan wrote: "Making MacAskill leader would cement Alba's position on the centre-left." He also praised MacAskill, the acting leader of the party, as "passionate about independence and socialism".[136]
Kezia Dugdale described the Alba Party as "fundamental nationalists" who "want an independence referendum yesterday, definitely today, and not in two years", while also noting that the party's opposition to "more socially liberal policies" of the SNP is the key difference between Alba and the SNP.[137] Similarly,The Political Quarterly argues that the SNP and Alba correspond to the gradualist-fundamentalist split amongst Scottish nationalists, with the SNP representing gradualist nationalism and the Alba Party attempting to form a radically separatist, fundamentalist force. However, ultimately many radical Scottish nationalists chose to remain in the SNP instead of defecting to Alba.[138]
| Name | Entered office | Left office | Photo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laurie Flynn | 8 February 2021 | 25 March 2021 | |
| 2 | Alex Salmond | 25 March 2021 (announced)[24] | 12 October 2024 [A] |  |
| 3 | Kenny MacAskill | 12 October 2024 (announced) [B] | Incumbent | .jpg) |
| Name | Entered office | Left office | Photo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenny MacAskill | 11 September 2021 (announced)[139] | 26 March 2025 | |
| 2 | Neale Hanvey | 25 March 2025 | Incumbent |  |
| Name | Entered office | Left office | Photo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher McEleny [C] | 4 June 2021 | 27 February 2025 | |
| - | Corri Wilson [D] | 27 February 2025 | Incumbent |  |
| Name | Entered office | Left office | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ash Regan | 28 October 2023 | 10 October 2025 |  |
| Name | Entered office | Left office | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neale Hanvey | 28 March 2021 | 30 May 2024 | |
The party has not had any candidates directly elected. Their representatives, listed below, all defected having been elected as SNP candidates.[140]
| Name | Former party | Constituency | Date defected | Lost seat | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenny MacAskill | Scottish National Party | East Lothian | 26 March 2021 | 4 July 2024 | |
| Neale Hanvey | Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath | ||||
| Name | Former party | Constituency | Date defected | Date resigned party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ash Regan | Scottish National Party | Edinburgh Eastern | 28 October 2023[141] | 10 October 2025[142] | |
Following Salmond's announcement, eleven councillors had joined the party by the end of March 2021. All eleven had been elected as SNP candidates, though three had already left that party.[143] This included three councillors onAberdeenshire Council[144] and two onNorth Lanarkshire Council.[145]
Alba nominated 111 candidates for the2022 Scottish local elections, including the 13 incumbent councillors who were elected as members of other parties before joining Alba. None were elected.[146]
In October 2023, Chris Cullen, a councillor inSouth Ayrshire Council defected from the SNP to Alba.[147] In March 2024, Karl Rosie became the party's second councillor when he also defected to Alba.[148] He had been elected inThurso and North West Caithness onThe Highland Council and had left the SNP the previous month to sit as an independent.[148][149]
| Election | Leader | Scotland | Total seats | ± | Rank (UK) | Rank (Scotland) | Government | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | |||||||
| 2024 | Alex Salmond | 11,784 | 0.5% | 0 / 57 | 0 / 650 | 22nd | 7th | Not in parliament | |
| Election | Leader | Regional | Total seats | ± | Rank | Government | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | ||||||
| 2021 | Alex Salmond | 44,913 | 1.7 | 0 / 56 | 0 / 129 |  6th | Not in parliament | |
| Election | Leader | Votes | Seats | ± | Councils | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Pos. | ||||||
| 2022 | Alex Salmond | 12,335 | 0.7 | 7th | 0 / 1,226 | 0 / 32 | ||
Alba Party (ALBA)
Leader: Vacant
Orientation: Regionalist, centre-left
The lump in this case is the SNP, who almost certainly must be in government and adorning the green benches of the House of Commons for Scotland to achieve independence. Their energies are directed to the mundane politics of service delivery. Into that gap, Alba's team of natural dissenters has delivered a "minority report", which leans very clearly to the left of centre.
Alba the left-wing party, SNP the centre-left social democratic party, Green party, and a right-of-centre Tory party. Will there be a place for a Labour party or a LibDem party?
All parties with elected representatives (SNP, Greens, Alba) are left-of-centre social democrats who favour European integration, progressive taxation, and large-scale welfare provision. However, these views are far from universal amongst potential voters for independence.
Solidarity's current political outlook is underlined in the concluding points in the NEC statement which says their key aim is "pushing them [Alba] from left of centre towards our left and socialist vision… a socially just, fair and equal nuclear free independent Scotland".
Alba defines itself as "left of centre."
The other big story from the local elections is that the Alba Party – which sees itself to the left of the SNP – failed to make any gains and lost all of its sitting councillors, even after fielding around one hundred candidates.
