IAN Blackford is considering following in the footsteps of John Swinney and David Cameron in making a political comeback after some time away from the limelight. But should the SNP be bringing back their “stars” of the past?
Blackford, his party’s former group leader at Westminster, has said supporters have been urging him to stand in the constituency of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch after its current MSP, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, announced she will be standing down in 2026.
Nostalgia is a powerful emotion, and it will no doubt have been a factor in those anonymous supporters deciding to try to tempt the “humble crofter” back into Parliament.
Just look at what it’s done to Hollywood. Nostalgia has seen billions of dollars thrown at lavish remakes of old Disney favourites, from The Lion King and Snow White to Aladdin and Mulan. I didn’t even realise there had been a Peter Pan remake until today.
Other studios are also getting in on the action, with DreamWorks this year releasing a shot-for-shot remake of How to Train Your Dragon – which saw Gerard Butler deliver the exact same lines in the exact same Scots brogue as he did 15 years ago. Is that what Scottish politics needs?
Blackford, while serving as SNP Westminster leader, did give the party one of its most iconic moments in recent history when, in 2018, he led MPs out of the Commons in protest after he was kicked out by the Speaker.
In that moment, he stood for everything party members were calling for: the SNP standing up to Westminster.
Party membership rose by more than 5000 in the 24 hours following the mass walkout. Not bad for a day’s work.
With membership now dwindling, branches haemorrhaging local activists, and others threatening to leave if Swinney doesn’t allow alternative independence strategies to be considered alongside his at conference in October, this would be an ideal time for a membership surge powered by nostalgia for “the good old days”.
But would Ian Blackford's return work?
In Hollywood, remakes have been branded “uncreative” and “cash grabs”. At Holyrood, it is not difficult to imagine the same accusations being levelled at the SNP and Blackford respectively, should he bid for an MSP’s paycheque.
Swinney himself is a case-in-point example of a former high heid yin coming back to provide some (arguably perceived) stability to a political party. It was the same with Cameron for the Tories in 2022 – with a Lords seat his reward in place of the First Minister job.
They knew the workings of parliaments, had name recognition with voters, and the familiar face brought credibility in a time of “chaos”. Great.
But a key sticking point surrounding Swinney’s entire leadership is the lack of renewed thinking. There is little spark, no fire, and a desperate repackaging of the old independence strategy is reigniting internal party tensions that have simmered since Nicola Sturgeon’s day.
He is proving uninspiring and failing to bring in new members, even if he is described as “a nice guy”.
With an eye on the future, members are looking instead to Cabinet Secretary Mairi McAllan (a mentee of Sturgeon) and at current SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn – the man who ousted Blackford.
Does Blackford bring gravitas and adaptability to a potential second hurrah? Gravitas, yes. That is why his supporters have been a-ringing. But adaptability? I can’t see it.
He is a senior enough figure that he could block chances of renewal within the party – and bring just a little too much political nostalgia to put off swing voters.
The suggestion of Blackford returning doesn’t give a sense of a broader renewal back to the SNP’s heyday, it looks a lot like recycling the old guard – and signals that the party either cannot attract or does not want a new generation leading the way and changing the status quo.
