Latest news with #WinnieEwing
Daily Mail
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Fergus Ewing's furious broadside as he says he'll now run AGAINST the SNP
One of the SNP 's longest-serving politicians has launched a vitriolic attack on the party for having 'lost its way' as he announced plans to stand as an independent. Fergus Ewing, a former Cabinet minister who has been an MSP since the Scottish Parliament was opened and an SNP member for around 50 years, said he cannot stand for the party again and 'defend the indefensible '. He said that the party has 'deserted' those it used to champion over the past decade and focused on issues 'largely irrelevant to most people's lives'. The politician also said that devolution is presently 'letting Scotland's people down' and the country is in a state of 'managed decline' under the SNP. Following the explosive statement, it was confirmed that the SNP had rescinded his membership - and he was also told he would be evicted from his office in the SNP corridors in parliament and the party whip removed. Mr Ewing, who had intended to remain an SNP MSP until the election before standing as an independent candidate for Inverness and Nairn, condemned the way the issue had been dealt with, saying: 'Fifty years' service, two line missive.' Emma Roddick, a former minister under Humza Yousaf who is on the Left of the party, will now stand directly against him as the SNP candidate next year. In his personal statement issued yesterday, Mr Ewing, whose mother Winnie is one of the biggest figures in the SNP's history following her landmark by-election victory in Hamilton in 1967, said the Scottish Parliament has been 'at its worst' in recent years. He said: 'The SNP has been part of the fabric of my life for more than half a century. Indeed, I believe there has been a distinctive thread of Ewing running through its plaid for even longer. I hope that is never removed. 'But fabrics can become worn. I hope the SNP can repair itself and return to the honour and traditions of those who first wove it in a manner that meets Scotland's real modern needs. 'The failures of the SNP to deliver on its long-standing pledges to dual the A9 and A96 are a major part of that. I cannot stand again for the SNP and defend the indefensible. 'I believe the SNP has lost its way and that devolution itself - presently - is letting Scotland's people down. It doesn't need to be this way.' He heavily criticised recent SNP leaders for choosing candidates who will 'slavishly support them' and for 'choosing the pliant over the talented'. In the decade since Alex Salmond stood down and was succeeded by Nicola Sturgeon, he said the SNP 'seems to have deserted many of the people whose causes we used to champion' on issues including oil and gas, farming, fishing, rural affairs, tourism and small business - and accused the party of 'betraying generations who fought for women's rights'. He said he has tried to act as a 'critical friend' to the party and said he warned Nicola Sturgeon about the 'strategic blunder' of entering a power-sharing alliance with the Greens, and also highlighted that current First Minister John Swinney negotiated the deal. Mr Ewing said: 'These failures - plus a strange preoccupation with issues regarded as largely irrelevant to most people' lives - have all cost the SNP much loss of electoral support but also something else which is priceless. Public trust. 'Scotland is indeed in a state of 'managed decline' as Sir Tom Hunter recently said.' Urging different parties to work together, he said that Holyrood needs to 'grow up'. It was confirmed by the SNP that its constitution sets out that party membership ceases when any individual declares their intention to stand against the party. Mr Ewing confirmed that he was informed yesterday (FRI) that his 'membership was over', that he would be evicted from his office at Holyrood and the SNP whip would be removed. The Inverness and Nairn seat is now expected to be hotly contested next year. In 2021, Mr Ewing secured 48 per cent of the vote for the party, with the Conservatives in second place on 28 per cent, Labour in third on 12 per cent, and the Lib Dems in fourth on six per cent. Edward Mountain, Scottish Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands, said: 'It speaks volumes about John Swinney and the SNP's appalling failures in government that even nationalist royalty is prepared to twist the knife in this way. 'By standing as an independent Fergus Ewing has made it clear he simply cannot defend his party's record to voters while out on the campaign trail. 'The SNP have shamefully abandoned the Highlands over their 18 years in power.' Neil Alexander, Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate for Inverness and Nairn, said: 'Fergus Ewing has sat around the cabinet table or on the backbenches for the entirety of the SNP's 18 years in government. He can't just walk away from the big part he has played in their record of failing the Highlands. 'While the two nationalists try to turn our constituency into a battleground for their party feud, I'm focused on what really matters to people here.' Mr Swinney said: 'It was with real sadness and deep regret that I heard of Fergus Ewing's decision to leave the Scottish National Party. 'We have both served the SNP and the cause of independence for many years, and I commend him for all that he achieved while serving in the SNP Government until 2021. 'Fergus had the option of standing at the forthcoming election for the SNP, given his status as an approved candidate. He chose not to accept that opportunity and I regret that he has ultimately decided instead to leave the party. 'The SNP approaches the 2026 election ahead in the polls, with growing support for independence, and I am looking forward to taking our positive, ambitious vision for Scotland's future to the people.'
Telegraph
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
SNP loses its shine with Fergus Ewing exit
The Ewings, all three of them – Winnie, her daughter Annabelle and, last but not least, her son Fergus – have always added lustre to the SNP and the cause of independence. The late Winnie, Madam Ecosse, all but invented it, at least in the modern era, by winning the Hamilton by-election in 1967 and then becoming the first presiding officer of the reformed Scottish Parliament in 1999. Her daughter has been a minister in several departments, and became a deputy presiding officer of the Holyrood Parliament, and Fergus became – well, just Fergus. He was always his own man, the epitome of the bloke who goes his own way, no matter what. He has now announced that he's had it with the nit-picking, daft policy-loving comrades who even tried to have him chucked out of the party he's spent all of his adult life supporting. And he's going his own way. I'll admit I've never agreed with his continued support for independence, a policy that would have beggared his country. But he was a man of principle who accepted that politicians of different stripes had principles, too. And while they could be challenged, they should not be insulted. Above all, he saw his first duty was to his Highland constituents. He put their need for decent, safe roads at the top of his agenda – especially the dualling of the A9, widely known as Britain's 'killer road' because of crashes. And he didn't want to see fishing communities devastated by supposed green policies aimed at protecting the environment, no matter the human cost. If there was one issue that alienated Fergus Ewing more than most from the SNP, it was Nicola Sturgeon's ill-fated coalition with the ultra-left Scottish Greens. He fought their policies tooth and nail, and rightly declared that most of them were opposed by a majority of the electorate. Nowhere was this more evident than in the Sturgeon/Scottish Greens plan to rewrite society's views on gender. It was a battle in which Ewing was ultimately on the winning side. I'm certain that he has not taken this decision to stand as an independent in next May's Scottish Parliament election lightly. After all, he will almost certainly be standing against an SNP candidate and even at this distance, the arithmetic looks like being very tight. His long-time party will throw everything at him to keep 'his' Inverness and Nairn seat, which they've always held. I'll probably be wrong – I usually am with predictions – but my tenner is on Fergus Ewing holding on against the odds.
The National
13-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
The Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse constituency, explained
The late Christina McKelvie's winning margin over the Labour candidate in the seat was 12.6% at the 2021 election, which sounds healthy enough – but that was achieved in the context of a record-breaking national landslide for the SNP, when Scottish Labour were trailing by more than 26 points across the country. To win Thursday's by-election, Labour wouldn't need to be anywhere close to a Scotland-wide lead over the SNP. Trimming the SNP's national lead to 13 points would, on a uniform swing, be enough to push Labour ahead in the constituency. Consequently, this is a by-election that would have been unwinnable for the SNP during most of 2024. And as a reminder, the constituency overlaps with the Westminster seat of Hamilton and Clyde Valley, which was easily captured by Labour at last July's General Election by a 22-point margin. READ MORE: Scottish Labour by-election candidate flounders after dodging question 11 times By March of this year, when it became clear the by-election would be taking place, the SNP had re-established themselves and held an 11-point Scotland-wide lead on the Holyrood constituency ballot in a poll conducted by Survation – but even that was a small enough gap to leave Labour as slight favourites to gain Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse. Since then, there has been a poll showing the SNP with a huge 21-point national lead, which raised hopes that the by-election was taking place at a favourable time, and that the SNP might come away with a comfortable victory. But the most recent poll at the weekend from Norstat had the national lead at 14 points, which is consistent with only a razor-thin SNP advantage over Labour in Hamilton. History and symbolism are the other reasons why the SNP might have preferred this contest to be taking place somewhere else. Hamilton was the scene of their greatest-ever by-election success in 1967, when Winnie Ewing stunned Labour by winning on a mammoth 38% swing. The historical importance of that triumph can be explained very simply: prior to 1967, the SNP had never had any parliamentary representation (apart from for a few short weeks in 1945), but since then they have never been without parliamentary representation. And yet they've learned the hard way that returning to the scene of their most famous win has its dangers. In 1978, another Hamilton by-election came up, and the SNP put forward Margo MacDonald as a big-name candidate, in the hope and expectation that she would repeat Ewing's feat. Instead, there was a swing against the SNP, allowing Labour's George Robertson to romp home decisively. The symbolic turning of the tide in the very place where it had all started for the SNP helped to generate considerable momentum for Labour, and contributed to the SNP's massive setback in the 1979 General Election. If a third dramatic upset in a Hamilton by-election is reported by the media on Friday, that will be bad news for the SNP because by definition it will mean they have lost. And despite the arithmetic firmly suggesting Labour should be in the hunt on Thursday, most of the chatter from the ground suggests that if the SNP face any real threat, it comes from Reform UK. A win for Farage's Unionist ultras would undoubtedly qualify as a by-election spectacular on a par with Hamilton 1967, and would invite comparisons that the independence movement might prefer to avoid. However, the latest polling suggests that Reform are still well behind the SNP nationally, which means that the Nationalists ought to be able to fend off the challenge – especially as there doesn't seem a reason to believe that Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse is unusually favourable terrain for Reform. READ MORE: Nigel Farage splashes 'unimaginable cash' on private jet jaunt to Scotland There was no real sign of that at the General Election last year, when Reform took 8% of the vote in Hamilton and Clyde Valley – only a smidgeon better than their Scotland-wide showing of 7%. Constituency-level estimates from the 2016 EU referendum also suggest that the local vote for Leave may actually have been a tad lower than the Scotland-wide figure of 38% – and it's known there is still a strong correlation between support for Brexit and support for Reform. So despite the jitters, most of the indicators suggest the SNP are the likely winners on Thursday. But parliamentary by-elections are strange bubble environments in which voters often behave in a way they normally wouldn't. The only safe assumption is that almost anything is possible.
The National
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Kenny MacAskill: SNP losing by-election was unforgiveable
The town's name is seared in Scotland's soul from Winnie Ewing's victory there in the UK Parliament by-election in 1967. I was a child then but was aware of its seismic effect on not just Scottish politics but Scottish society. Many stalwarts told me how a movement viewed as marginal and romantic came alive with that triumph. Scottish politics was changed irrevocably, with independence becoming a possibility, not just a dream. More recently, when I was justice secretary, I worked with Christina McKelvie, an assiduous and popular MSP, as she sought to address knife crime in her community. READ MORE: SNP candidate calls out Tory rival for being in 'lockstep with failed ideology' The seat's loss a bitter blow to the efforts of those stalwarts and countless others. Alba stood aside, calling on supporters to 'max the Yes vote'. Just what the Scottish Greens think they achieved by standing is for them to explain, with their total of votes barely greater than the very small Labour majority. Unionists are now crowing and the impact will be felt by the wider independence movement. It's a tragedy which will require work and change to come back from. It wasn't the fault of the SNP candidate any more than success can be attributed to her spectacularly poor Labour opponent. The polish of New Labour was forsaken, with Davy Russell a throwback to Labour candidates from days of yore when the party reigned across huge swathes of Scotland, its dead hand lying across the land. Under Alex Salmond's leadership, that Tammany Hall power was broken and Scotland was transformed for the better. We cannot allow those dark days to return. Remember that this was also a defeat for what little remains of the Labour left and those who still think Scotland can be transformed within the Union. Last week's result will be taken as an endorsement of Starmerism, legitimation of the austerity agenda and Labour's attacks on the poor and vulnerable. Those who have bravely spoken out will be hounded and party loyalists empowered. Responsibility for the defeat rests with the SNP leadership for both its lamentable by-election strategy, and its actions and failings over recent years. Circumstances had changed from last year and were favourable for SNP. The tidal clamour for change last July, which saw myself and my Alba colleague swept out of the UK Parliament along with numerous SNP MPs, had well and truly ebbed. Starmer's Labour were and are deeply unpopular. At the same time independence was polling well above 50% and even higher when the spectre of Farage and Reform was posed. All good, you'd think, for pushing the case for independence. READ MORE: SNP must turn support for independence into 'real political action', says Swinney That was what, after all, was done by Winnie Ewing all those years ago and decades before we even had our Parliament restored. She gave a vision of the land Scotland could be, contrasting it with the country it was, as pits and shipyards started to close and emigration continued. But independence wasn't mentioned by the SNP. It was the policy notable only for its absence in literature, on the doorsteps and in debate. Yet it was the unique selling point for the SNP. It was the one thing that carved them out from their principal opponents, Labour and Reform, and, even more than that, was backed by well over half of voters. That failure's not just inexplicable but unforgiveable. Instead, a strategy of 'stop Reform' was pushed. Just what was that meant to express other than avoiding having to answer for failings in their Scottish Government administration is hard to fathom. In politics, saying what you're for is always better than arguing what you're against. It motivates those who share your beliefs and can even earn respect or at least legitimation from opponents. Besides, Reform are not going to take power in Scotland – but only independence can ensure they are not foisted on us by being in the Union. The SNP leadership treated independence supporters in Hamilton with the same arrogance and disdain that they've treated the wider movement over recent years. A simple assumption that they'd have to vote for them and the backing of others could safely be pursued. Do what 'yer telt' and 'wheesht for indy'. But, as in 2017, where there's neither motivation nor articulation of independence, many simply stayed at home. The SNP did not lose support to Reform in Hamilton, instead they saw independence supporters say: 'What's the point of voting?' That compounded growing contempt for their failings in office and their lack of vision for the country. An obsession with gender and identity when what is wanted is an improvement in public services, whether health or housing, jobs or justice. Focusing on individual rights rather than the collective good at a time when communities are struggling. There has to be a coming together of the independence movement but that requires a recognition by SNP that they are only a part, albeit a major part, of it. The growing gap between support for independence and support for SNP tells a story and a bit of humility would go a long way. It also means that Holyrood 2026 has to be a plebiscite election and that to 'Max the Yes', it has to be vote Alba on the list.
The Herald Scotland
06-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Not a shot that's been fired across SNP's bows, it's a cruise missile
It's a totemic place for the SNP. In 1967, Winnie Ewing's by-election success in Hamilton shifted the SNP from the periphery of politics. Today, however, the town is less hallowed ground for Scottish nationalists and more field of woe. The story which should be taken from the Hamilton result isn't of Labour's win, but of SNP defeat. A shot hasn't just been fired across the SNP's bows, it's a cruise missile. This was the SNP's battle to lose and lose they did. John Swinney talked up a two-horse race between his party and Reform, dismissing the notion of a Labour win. He looks pretty foolish today. That the SNP could go down so badly to a Labour Party which has riled and alienated voters since Keir Starmer took office is remarkable. Labour won the general election with 34%. Today, that's down across Britain to about 23%. In Hamilton, however, Labour secured almost 32% – barely a change since Starmer took power. The SNP fell nearly 17%, losing a seat previously held on a majority of 4582. These are catastrophic figures for the SNP. Even Reform's rise – it came third on 26% – isn't as significant. Reform's vote in Hamilton broadly replicates its UK-wide support. So what's happened to the SNP? Well, first of all the nationalists are nowhere near as smart as they think they are. For a long time, luck was on their side. Tony Blair's administration was tarnished with war, Gordon Brown was done in by the financial crash, and years of Tory misrule played into nationalist hands. Read more: The SNP could pose as the sane opposition to London. You don't need world-class strategy and policy if your opponents are doing all the hard work for you. Claims that the SNP ran the greatest electoral machine or had the cleverest advisors were guff. However, when you've been in power nearly 20 years you can no longer pretend to be the opposition. That outsider status is working well for Reform, but the SNP are now more status quo than either Labour or Conservatives. They're an enduring symbol now of all the mistakes that the political world has wrought on citizens in recent years. The SNP has never recovered from alienating many of its progressive supporters in the wake of Nicola Sturgeon's resignation. The ensuing leadership contest revealed a level of social conservatism which shocked leftwing voters who had once backed Labour but shifted to the SNP. That – and the poison of multiple scandals – is why the SNP got hammered at the general election. Those voters haven't returned. And nor will they, for what does the SNP offer? There's been failure after failure. The word 'independence' was barely uttered during the recent campaign. If the SNP is scared to speak about independence, what's its purpose? Independence has decoupled from the SNP. The party can no longer rely on Yes voters backing nationalists. Voters long ago saw behind the Wizard of Oz curtain. The SNP managed for years to talk the talk when it came to government – with great rhetoric on climate change, child poverty, education, health and policing – but it never walked the walk. There's only so long voters will tolerate being made to feel gullible. The SNP suffers from 'the boy who cried wolf' syndrome. No matter what it says now, it's just hot air as far as many voters are concerned. The leadership took the people for granted. Evidently, the SNP has tried over the years to mitigate the worst of Westminster's excesses with policies like the Scottish Child Payment, but you can't dine out on that forever. It's like a forgotten film star showing you cuttings of their glory days. What could be more sad? Then there's the boredom factor: the SNP has been in power so long that many fancy a change, just to move the furniture around. The party ran a campaign that focused on its opponents, not on what it could offer the people. Labour ran a highly-local campaign fixed on local concerns. The SNP hierarchy is also increasingly irritating. Angus Robertson's attitude on the BBC's live coverage of the by-election was a masterclass in patrician sneering. The party comes across as entitled and full of its own self-importance. Privilege is not a good look for politicians these days. A few more humble types in prominent positions might serve nationalists better. It's also become such a bloodless party. This isn't to suggest that the SNP embrace outright populism, but if Starmer's managerialism is off-putting, Swinney is close to funereal at times. If the SNP thinks it can hold on to Holyrood at next year's Scottish election by simply giving us more of the same, then Hamilton should be taken as necessary corrective medicine. Quite simply, the people want politicians to make their lives better and the SNP are not doing that. Indeed, the people seem to be saying that even the clunking, u-turning, impossible to like policies of Starmer are more in accord with them than the SNP. That is bad.
