AN SNP MSP has urged party members to back John Swinney’s leadership after the shock loss of the Hamilton by-election.
Writing in The National on Tuesday, MSP James Dornan called on party members to “stop begging for a change of leader every time we don’t get the result we want”.
It comes after Scottish Labour won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, beating the SNP by 602 votes.
We previously told how former SNP MP Tommy Sheppard said the party’s strategy to frame the by-election as a “two-horse race” between them and Reform UK was “foolish”.
Activists have also shared their outrage after claiming they were "shut down" by SNP HQ when they tried to question the strategy to target Reform.
In the immediate aftermath of the result, former Scottish health secretary Alex Neil said Swinney should be “replaced immediately”.
But Dornan argued that, while mistakes had been made during the campaign, Swinney was best placed to take the party through the Holyrood 2026 election.
The MSP wrote that for Yessers the priority should be to get an “independence supporting majority” in the Scottish Parliament after 2026.
“Without independence we are not in a position to seriously change the things we want to,” he said.
“And for SNP members, can we stop begging for a change of leader every time we don’t get the result we want.
“Yet every time we lose a by-election or an opinion poll goes against us we get a clamour for some other politician, usually an MP, who will never have run a department, chaired a parliamentary committee, to become the party leader because they are good in the media or with a witty quip at PMQs.
“It takes more than that to win a battle of this size.”
Dornan insisted he was not attacking his Westminster colleagues, some of whom are standing in the Scottish Parliament election to become MSPs, but added: “Between now and the forthcoming Holyrood election every member of the SNP should be right behind John, all I ask is that you continue to pressure the leadership to ensure that independence is front and centre of all that we do.”
Dornan argued that the SNP should make independence “the centre piece of every leaflet, every piece of campaign material and manifesto we deliver” during the Holyrood campaign.
He said the party should frame Holyrood 2026 as an “independence election”.
If voters return a pro-independence majority, ministers should then inform the UK Government that they will be holding a referendum on independence, first seeking to do so through a Section 30 order, as was the case in 2014.
If Westminster refuses, the Scottish Government should press ahead with a referendum, he said.
“We then move forward based on the results of the referendum,” Dornan argued.
“We can not continue with the same old, give us a mandate, then we’ll ask for a Section 30, then we’ll voice our disappointment when refused and then wait for the next election to repeat the process.”
