A ONE-TIME leadership rival of John Swinney is considering running to become SNP president, The National can reveal.
Graeme McCormick is weighing up whether to run again for the role after unsuccessful bids in 2024 and 2023.
Speaking to The National, via email, McCormick said the party needed a "strong president to protect the party’s historic mission" and confirmed he was considering throwing his hat in the ring.
His campaign may have more momentum than in the past, given the controversy around party leader John Swinney’s approach to independence and McCormick’s role in a concerted push to change the party’s stance.
He was involved in the campaign to put forward a motion which challenged Swinney’s independence strategy – which would take a Holyrood majority for the SNP as a mandate for a second referendum.
The motion did not feature on the party's draft agenda for the conference in October, but rebels are understood to be preparing for a showdown with the leadership when Swinney's motion is put forward.
McCormick has previously backed approaches to gaining independence focused on international law and told The National last year that he believed that the election of a majority of SNP MPs should result in the dissolution of the Union.
This would involve the establishment of a “sovereign” government of Scotland and telling the UN that the United Kingdom had ceased to exist.
He previously said that this formula was the “how of delivering our nation statehood”.
McCormick, a retired lawyer, challenged Swinney for the job as SNP leader last year but eventually abandoned his bid, sparing the party a potentially costly and bruising election.
He criticised the Scottish Government at the party’s 2023 conference as being like “flatulence in a trance” during Humza Yousaf’s time at the helm.
Speaking about his plan for independence during his 2023 bid for SNP president, McCormick (above) told this paper: “The day after the election, if there is a majority of pro-independence votes cast, then we dissolve the Union, our MPs dissolve the Union, by not taking their seats in Westminster.
“We advise the United Nations that we will abide by the terms of the Vienna Convention [an international agreement that regulates treaties among sovereign states] as regards the equitable distribution of assets and liabilities.”
While the role of SNP president is largely a ceremonial position, a successful run by McCormick would be a powerful expression of discontent within the party faithful with the leadership’s stance on achieving independence.
Swinney also faces the prospect of a conference battle with rebels on his independence motion, an amendment to which The National understands is currently being finalised.
