SNP stands at a crossroads – but what direction will party take?

Published

1 year ago

April 29, 2024

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Humza Yousaf will no doubt be riddled with regret at the colossal miscalculation to bin the Greens last week.

His options to fight on, despite the severe headwinds, eventually evaporated and, short of striking a deal with Alex Salmond, he was boxed in.

Mr Yousaf inherited a lot of his problems. The Green pact was signed by Nicola Sturgeon and the ongoing police investigation is out of his control.

Politics live: Next Scottish FM tipped to be ‘crowned with no contest’

Many senior SNP figures feel governing as a minority government, free from the shackles of the Greens, is exactly what the party needs right now to win back its supporters who have fled.

There is no doubt the SNP is still the biggest political force in Scotland, but a series of controversial policies have grabbed the headlines and dominated all the public narrative.

Mr Yousaf presided over a heavy loss to Labour in the Rutherglen by-election and was defeated in a court battle over the notorious gender recognition reforms.

The biggest focus now is who comes next and the process that follows.

Labour looks set to gain in the polls from any strife the SNP endures – but could a new leader unite the party in a way Mr Yousaf failed?

It got extremely messy when Ms Sturgeon departed last year. No one in the party wants to rip open old wounds.

John Swinney is seen as a party heavyweight and many current cabinet ministers will rally behind him.

But others fear he is yesterday’s man and will not deliver that change the SNP must have if it is to cling on to power.

If one-time leadership candidate Kate Forbes throws her hat in the ring, will the Yousaf wing of the party listen to what she has to say? Will they recognise she got almost 50% of the vote in the contest last year?

She is seen by many as competent and controversial. Her leadership could be plagued by old rifts from colleagues who believe her premiership would be a lurch to the right.

The SNP and Scotland stand at a crossroads.

The turmoil is becoming a familiar rhythm in a parliament where views are increasingly entrenched and tribal.

Politics

MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn

Published

4 hours ago

July 3, 2025

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MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn

An MP who was ousted from the Labour Party has announced she is setting up a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.

Independent MP Zarah Sultana said she and the former Labour leader will co-lead the new party, which she did not provide a name for.

She said other independent MPs, campaigners and activists from across the country will join them, but did not name anyone.

Politics latest: Zarah Sultana’s stinging resignation letter

Ms Sultana also said she was “resigning” from the Labour Party after 14 years.

She was suspended as a Labour MP shortly after they came to power last summer for voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.

Several others from the left of the party, including Mr Corbyn, were also suspended for voting against the government, and also remained as independent MPs.

However, Ms Sultana was still a member of the Labour Party – until now.

Mr Corbyn has previously said the independent MPs who were suspended from Labour would “come together” to provide an “alternative.

The other four are: Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain.

Mr Corbyn and the other four independents have not said if they are part of the new party Ms Sultana announced.

In her announcement, Ms Sultana said she would vote to abolish the two-child benefit cap again and also voted against scrapping the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.

Ms Sultana also voted against the government’s welfare bill this week, which was heavily watered down as Sir Keir Starmer tried to prevent a major rebellion from his own MPs.

On Wednesday, Ms Sultana spoke passionately against Palestine Action being proscribed as a terror organisation – but MPs eventually voted for it to be.

She said to proscribe it is “a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth”.

Ms Sultana said they were founding the new party because “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper – just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population”.

She called Reform leader Nigel Farage “a billionaire-backed grifter” leading the polls “because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives.

The MP, who has spoken passionately about Gaza, added: “Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.

“But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.

“We are not going to take this anymore.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “In just 12 months, this Labour government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions.

“Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.”