Latest news with #McEleny
The National
2 days ago
- Politics
- The National
SNP MP dismisses call for party to enter House of Lords
Chris McEleny, former top aide to Alex Salmond as leader of the Alba Party, said it was 'time for Scottish nationalists to take up their seats to bring a dose of disruption to the House of Lords'. He told The Times it was 'inconsistent' for the SNP to 'remain mute on the self-anointed meritocracy that rules over the most important aspects of Scottish public life today' – pointing to the quangos which run transport and water infrastructure and the position of Lord Advocate – while refusing to participate in Westminster's unelected second chamber. But his suggestion was shot down by the SNP's deputy Westminster leader Pete Wishart (below). (Image: PA) The top MP, who once ran to be the Commons speaker, tweeted: 'Absolutely hilarious, and I don't think we'll be taking any advice from them. But finally a route to Parliament for the Albists. 'A place in the House of Lords certainly gets them over their tricky never being elected to anything problem.' McEleny pointed to the SNP's support for the monarchy as evidence of inconsistency in their opinion. READ MORE: Anas Sarwar 'hypocrisy' row as Labour council orders no busses from Alexander Dennis He said: 'Being opposed to the House of Lords on the principle that it is unelected while simultaneously being at ease with supporting a policy of maintaining an unelected head of state and swearing an oath of allegiance to King or Queen is not coherent.' And he claimed that Salmond was 'not opposed in principle' to getting nationalists into the second chamber were he still alive. There was 'simply just no need for it when he was leading the national movement because he was leading us away from Westminster towards independence', McEleny (below) added. (Image: Martini) Former SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford found himself under fire last year after he suggested the party should drop its opposition to entering the House of Lords, though he insisted he had no personal ambitions to join. Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, have peers and one of their members in the second chamber, Carmen Smith, told The National last year the SNP's position should be reviewed to get independence "in as many rooms as we can'. McEleny was sacked as Alba's general secretary during a fractious leadership race which resulted in the election of Kenny MacAskill. The latter previously saw off a bid by McEleny to suspend him.
The National
03-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Alba confirm Chris McEleny expelled for Kenny MacAskill comments
In February, it was announced that McEleny, who served as Alba's general secretary for the entirety of Alex Salmond's leadership, had been fired from his paid party position and that his membership was being reviewed. The National can reveal that following complaints made to the parties' conduct committee, McEleny has now been expelled from Alba. It is understood that McEleny's expulsion was in part due to his comments made in an interview with Sky News in the run-up to the Alba leadership election, where he said, 'Kenny will look back and regret some of the actions of the previous month'. READ MORE: John Swinney urges UK's biggest news agency to reconsider Scottish job cuts He also implied during the interview that the now Alba leader, Kenny MacAskill, was 'not acting rational' and that he was 'not fit to lead the party'. There had been claims by some members in Alba that MacAskill had been suspended from the party after accusations of bullying and harassment were levelled against him. However, MacAskill denied the bullying claims and said that the alleged attempt to suspend him were made by an 'individual acting outwith the limits of their powers'. It is understood that McEleny (below) has 21 days to appeal his expulsion if he wishes to do so, which he said he will 'consider' in the coming weeks. (Image: Colin Mearns) McEleny said: 'I'm obviously very upset to be expelled from the party Alex and I built to ensure that Scottish independence was delivered. 'I will consider an appeal over the coming weeks.' Speaking with The National at the All Under One Banner march in Glasgow on Saturday, MacAskill confirmed McEleny's expulsion from Alba. He said: 'That's a matter that the party has made a decision on. 'There's really no further comment I could make, there are democratic party procedures, and they've been followed.' MacAskill (below) added: 'There were complaints made, and they have acted upon him.' (Image: PA) A friend of Chris McEleny has criticised the party's decision, calling it a 'sign of weakness'. They said: 'It's ironic that Chris has been expelled from the party he and Alex Salmond created for saying he was going to write a book about Alex Salmond's life, and further on the same week Kenny MacAskill has been defending the right of the band Kneecap to shout pro Hamas slogans and to say Tory MPs should be killed, Chris has been expelled for saying something that hurt Kenny's feelings. They added: 'Perhaps he should wear a Saltire balaclava going forward and then he will be allowed to rejoin. This decision is an ultimate sign of weakness on the part of Alba's leadership. 'If Alex Salmond had adopted the approach of expelling people from the SNP that he didn't get on with then he would've expelled Kenny MacAskill several times over throughout a period of 20 years that Kenny briefed against him and was critical of his leadership to the press.'
The Independent
26-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Former Alba official threatens legal action over dismissal as new leader elected
The former general secretary of the Alba Party has said he is taking legal action against his dismissal, just minutes after the pro-independence party elected its new leader. The divisions in the party were apparent at an event in Edinburgh where Kenny MacAskill narrowly won the vote to succeed Alex Salmond, who launched Alba four years ago. His opponent and the party's sole MSP Ash Regan, who secured 1,212 votes to Mr MacAskill's 1,331, declined to give a speech after the announcement and left the hall. Former MP Neale Hanvey defeated Chris McEleny to win the party's deputy leadership. Mr MacAskill said the task of delivering the 'dream of independence' now falls to him and Alba's members. Taking questions from journalists, the former East Lothian MP said he is confident his party can win a 'breakthrough' at next year's Holyrood election and will seek to galvanise the 'debilitated' pro-independence movement. He said: 'What I will seek to do, what the Alba Party will seek to do, is to work with that wider movement who are not in any political party – that movement exists and what took us close to victory in 2014 was the broad-based public campaign in housing estates, housing schemes the length and breadth of Scotland.' Asked about the divisions within Alba, he denied the contest had been 'rumbustious' and said the debate had been respectful, saying the decisions around Mr McEleny will be taken by the national executive and that he had recused himself. Mr McEleny, who was a key aide to late leader Mr Salmond, said his defeat had not come as a surprise and he now expects to have his membership suspended. He spoke to journalists shortly after the announcement, saying he had been dismissed as general secretary by an 'unfair and unlawful process'. Mr McEleny said: 'That makes me sad, certainly if Alex Salmond was still here this would never have happened. 'Unfortunately now I will be going to employment tribunal against the party that I helped create and I did run for several years. 'That's not something I want to happen but unfortunately that's the actions of Kenny MacAskill and others that have forced me into this.' The former general secretary said his dismissal came after gross misconduct allegations which he described as 'ludicrous', urging the party to take part in a conciliation process before any tribunal begins and implying it does not have the funds to fight any legal action. Following Mr McEleny's remarks, new party leader Mr MacAskill said he was 'unaware of any action being initiated against us'. Mr Hanvey was elected to replace Mr MacAskill as depute leader of the party, winning 77.8% of votes cast to the 22.2% which went to Mr McEleny. The winners of both posts defected from the SNP to Alba when sitting as MPs in 2021, days after Mr Salmond founded the party.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Salmond planned Independence town
A candidate for the Alba Party's deputy leadership has said he and Alex Salmond planned a new Scottish town called Independence. Chris McEleny said he and the former first minister shared a "vision for a new Scottish town" to accommodate people working in the energy sector. McEleny is Alba's general secretary, though he was suspended earlier this month over claims of "gross misconduct". Alba is currently choosing a new leader after Salmond died of a heart attack at a conference in North Macedonia last October at the age of 69. Salmond led the country between 2007 and 2014 and his party's unprecedented majority in 2011 paved the way for the independence referendum three years later. After quitting as first minister, he had a spectacular fallout with former first minister Nicola Sturgeon and set up the alternative independence supporting Alba Party in 2021. Alba's sole MSP Ash Regan and former SNP MP Kenny MacAskill are vying for the leadership position ahead of a conference in March. Infighting has dominated the party since Salmond's death and McEleny previously claimed he had chosen step down as general secretary to ensure the new leader was "free to run the party differently". However, it was later confirmed that he was suspended from the role over allegations of gross misconduct. The Scotsman reported that McEleny was accused of "disobeying direct orders from leadership and blocking office bearers from carrying out their duties". He is also alleged to have misrepresented the party's views on asylum seekers and Donald Trump in media statements. Alba chief suspended over gross misconduct claim The former SNP councillor was a close friend of Salmond and has emphasised this link in his election campaign. He said: "Alex Salmond and I had a vision for a new Scottish town and we could think of no better name than Independence." McEleny said Scotland had an "abundance of renewable energy potential" but the UK government sent this south of the border "with no benefit to Scotland". He added: "What we should be doing is using that energy to attract the industries of today and tomorrow to Scotland by using the incentive of cheaper energy anywhere else in Europe. "Such an influx of highly skilled jobs would require the industries, the labour force and the infrastructure to all be mutually beneficial to each other - that is why a new town would make sense. "A new Scottish town has not been designated since not long after the Second World War, now is the right time to begin a discussion to make a town called Independence a reality." Five new towns were built across Scotland in the decades following the end of the war to ease overcrowding in the country's major cities, particularly Glasgow. They were: East Kilbride (designated 6 May 1947) Glenrothes (designated 30 June 1948) Cumbernauld (designated 9 December 1955, extended 19 March 1973) Livingston (designated 16 April 1962) Irvine (designated 9 November 1966) They quickly became associated with poor planning and architecture that was hastily built from unattractive grey concrete. Plans for a new sixth town at Stonehouse in South Lanarkshire were also drawn up in the 1970s, but the project was halted in 1976 after just 96 houses had been constructed. A new town called Blindwells is currently under construction next to the A1 near Prestonpans in East Lothian. Regan aiming to succeed Salmond as Alba leader MacAskill to challenge Regan for Alba leadership
BBC News
21-02-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Salmond planned Independence town
A candidate for the Alba Party's deputy leadership has said he and Alex Salmond planned a new Scottish town called McEleny said he and the former first minister shared a "vision for a new Scottish town" to accommodate people working in the energy is Alba's general secretary, though he was suspended earlier this month over claims of "gross misconduct".Alba is currently choosing a new leader after Salmond died of a heart attack at a conference in North Macedonia last October at the age of 69. Salmond led the country between 2007 and 2014 and his party's unprecedented majority in 2011 paved the way for the independence referendum three years quitting as first minister, he had a spectacular fallout with former first minister Nicola Sturgeon and set up the alternative independence supporting Alba Party in 2021. Alba's sole MSP Ash Regan and former SNP MP Kenny MacAskill are vying for the leadership position ahead of a conference in has dominated the party since Salmond's death and McEleny previously claimed he had chosen step down as general secretary to ensure the new leader was "free to run the party differently".However, it was later confirmed that he was suspended from the role over allegations of gross Scotsman reported that McEleny was accused of "disobeying direct orders from leadership and blocking office bearers from carrying out their duties".He is also alleged to have misrepresented the party's views on asylum seekers and Donald Trump in media statements. The former SNP councillor was a close friend of Salmond and has emphasised this link in his election said: "Alex Salmond and I had a vision for a new Scottish town and we could think of no better name than Independence."McEleny said Scotland had an "abundance of renewable energy potential" but the UK government sent this south of the border "with no benefit to Scotland".He added: "What we should be doing is using that energy to attract the industries of today and tomorrow to Scotland by using the incentive of cheaper energy anywhere else in Europe."Such an influx of highly skilled jobs would require the industries, the labour force and the infrastructure to all be mutually beneficial to each other - that is why a new town would make sense."A new Scottish town has not been designated since not long after the Second World War, now is the right time to begin a discussion to make a town called Independence a reality." What are Scotland's new towns? Five new towns were built across Scotland in the decades following the end of the war to ease overcrowding in the country's major cities, particularly were:East Kilbride (designated 6 May 1947)Glenrothes (designated 30 June 1948)Cumbernauld (designated 9 December 1955, extended 19 March 1973)Livingston (designated 16 April 1962)Irvine (designated 9 November 1966)They quickly became associated with poor planning and architecture that was hastily built from unattractive grey for a new sixth town at Stonehouse in South Lanarkshire were also drawn up in the 1970s, but the project was halted in 1976 after just 96 houses had been constructed.A new town called Blindwells is currently under construction next to the A1 near Prestonpans in East Lothian.
