Humza Yusuf, First Minister, attends the Speyside Festival, which hosts over 30 musical performances. threatens to fall apart.
Chris Hanlon, secretary of the Fife party branch, tweeted a picture of the leadership nomination forms and said he wanted to keep the first minister's feet on fire.
He said his bid for leadership was intended to prevent Mr Yusuf from developing party policy on the fly, arguing that the leader's job should be to put into practice what members decide at their annual conference.
Specifically, Mr Hanlon accused the First Minister of unveiling plans to use the next general election to try and win independence without prior approval at the conference being held in Aberdeen October.
*Petition for SNP members*#MembersMakePolicy
The job of a party leader is to implement party policy, all party policy, and nothing but party policy.
Party policy is decided by the conference.
If, like me, you're concerned that the leadership is spending too much time on preaching… pic.twitter.com/4YJNEDfjNn
— Chris Hanlon SNP (@SovereignWill) July 23, 2023
Mr. Hanlon is well known among SNP activists and was recently the head of policy development on the party's ruling national executive committee. It is clear that he will need 100 candidates from 20 branches to run.
His threat further exacerbated the collapse of discipline in the SNP triggered by the sudden resignation of Nicola Sturgeon in February.
SNP support plummeted in the polls
Mr. Yusuf, who nominated himself as Sturgeon's successor candidate, narrowly won a fractious leadership contest amid accusations of dirty tricks after failing to win half of the first preference vote. c.
His brief tenure was followed by a police investigation into the finances of the SNP, during which Ms. Sturgeon, her husband, Peter Murrell, a former party chief executive, and Colin Beatty, a former treasurer, were arrested.
They were released without charge pending further investigation, and Ms. Sturgeon insists she is innocent of any wrongdoing.
However, support for the SNP has plummeted in the polls and eight MPs have so far announced that they will be released from not competing for their seats in the general election.
In addition, Angus MacNeil, one of the SNP MPs who has served the SNP the longest, was denied the party whip and his membership suspended after he said he was “ignorant” about independence.
Fergus Ewing, a former Scottish cabinet minister and SNP spokesman, last week suggested to Mr Yousaf that he “consider his position” if he could not provide a clear commitment and timetable for duplicating the A9 between Perth and Inverness.
SNP Members
Mr Hanlon, SNP branch secretary for West Fife and Coastal Villages, tweeted a photo of his nomination form on Sunday evening, including a numbered list of boxes where supporters can add their names.
Describing it as “a petition for SNP members,” he said, “The job of a party leader is to implement party policy, all party policy, and nothing but party policy. The policy of the party is determined by the conference.
“If, like me, you are concerned that the leadership is spending too much time ranting about what they claim is party policy, instead of waiting for members to decide or telling reporters that a decision has not yet been made and that questions about the specific details of the independence election will have to wait until the conference, I would like to hear from you.” Humza Yusuf has promised to listen, I think we should make it clear that his position depends on keeping that promise.”
Last month, Yusaf told a specially convened conference on independence that he would demand a mandate for another referendum if the SNP won more Scottish seats than any other party in next year's general election.
But then he seemed to admit that this would not convince the UK government to hand over power for another vote on split “I am under no illusion that Westminster will continue to exist and continues to deny us.”
Craig Hoy, chairman of the Scottish Conservatives, said: “A measure of Humza Yusuf’s weakness and anarchy within the SNP is that, just a few months into his leadership, rank and file members are threatening to challenge him.
“The financial scandal that has engulfed the SNP, coupled with reversals and splits in relation to a number of destructive politician, has destroyed the iron discipline that the nationalists used to rely on.”
An SNP source said: chances of victory.”
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