Alex Salmond is eyeing the ‘yes town’ of Dundee in the general election as he seeks to put a spoke in the wheels of the SNP at heart. The Alba leader confirmed his party will field candidates in both Dundee constituencies when the country goes to the polls.
The town was one of three municipalities to support separation from the United Kingdom in the 2014 referendum. With 57.3% voting “yes”, it is the region with the greatest support for independence.
And this trend continued with the SNP effectively seeding the city. Chris Law won comfortably at Dundee West in 2019 while at Dundee East Stewart Hosie was successful, although he won’t be running this time around.
The race is expected to be closer this year and Mr Salmond, who spent his Saturday in Glasgow for a pro-Scexit march, could have dented the SNP’s hopes by announcing his party would stand. In a message to Alba supporters, he said the city’s local campaign unit had been “energized” after being “on its knees.”
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And he added: “This week they will announce the ALBA candidates for not one but BOTH seats in the great city of Dundee.” The former prime minister also claimed the party would “significantly exceed” its target of 12 candidates in the general election.
Mr Salmond claimed earlier this week that his party was prepared to back Humza Yousaf’s bid to save his career in the Prime Minister’s Office. However, reports suggest this proposal was rejected by Sturgeon loyalists, leaving Mr Yousaf with no choice but to resign.
In his message, the former SNP leader claimed that Alba MP Ash Regan “tried to save Humza Yousaf’s prime ministership after his dramatic break with the Greens”. He said Ms Regan had put forward “the most reasonable proposals”, but added: “Unfortunately, despite offering Ash a meeting to discuss it at Bute House, Humza was dissuaded from talks by an old guard of the SNP who preferred to sacrifice their own Prime Minister than accept ALBA’s independence program.
“So Humza was chased out by the Greens, aligned with the conservatives in Parliament.” He said Ms Regan “remains in an influential position and “is always ready to listen to proposals which advance the cause of Scotland and independence”.
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