As an estimated 3000 SNP activists meet in Glasgow this weekend for the party’s biggest ever campaign conference, it seems like a good moment to re-visit those new SNP members we first spoke to last autumn.
Around six months in, what has their experience of the party - now boasting an unprecedented membership of 100,000 - been like day-to-day? I asked our six not-so-newbies the same basic questions
Jamie Hollern joined the SNP on September 19th, the day after Scotland voted no to independence. The 28-year-old father of two from Dumfries, in the historically Conservative rural south of the country, had voted yes in the referendum. “I felt completely dejected, and I wanted nothing to do with politics anymore, but then I heard that Alex Salmond had resigned and I thought ‘I need to try and help.”
Jamie, since you joined, how many branch meetings have you attended?
I have attended every branch meeting since joining (6 I believe) and I have also attended the AGM and an EGM.
What SNP-related activities have you taken part in since joining? What other non-SNP political activities have you taken part in, if any?
I was actually elected as the Political Education Officer of my branch (Dumfries East) at the AGM. My best friend (who joined at the same time as myself) and I organised an SNP foodbank collection at Christmas and received almost £1000 worth of cash and donations from the people of Dumfries. The branch agreed to do this instead of holding a Christmas social event which was incredibly pleasing.
Do you think that the new members have pushed the SNP to the left, as you said to me you hoped they would?
There have been a few things that I personally have found very pleasing in this regard, such as the decision regarding fracking that was made recently. Obviously the SNP is already a moderate exponent of social democracy so these things reinforce that. I don’t know whether there has been a change or not and if any change was precipitated by the new members of just because Nicola Sturgeon has assumed office since we last spoke, but I am very happy with where the party stands on the political spectrum at the moment.
Alistair Toomey, 55, an IT security analyst, joined the SNP’s Dalkeith branch, near Edinburgh, which returned one of the highest no votes. For Toomey, any move further to the left would be dangerous for his new party, especially in terms of alienating previous no voters. “I’m not a natural left of centre SNP person,” says Toomey, “but I believe in Scotland standing on its own two feet.”
Toomey has attended two branch meetings, taken part in the local candidate selection process. He doesn’t plan to get involved in the SNP’s general election campaign, but says he has been made to feel very welcome. “If I had wanted to become more involved I’m sure that would have been appreciated. The SNP is the happy friendly party!”
Do you think that the new members have pushed the SNP to the left, as you said to me you feared they would, and that this might prove difficult to manage?
The party has defiantly moved to the left. As a small ‘c’ conservative this is hard to stomach but a price worth paying if my end goal, one day, is independence. I don’t believe this shift to the left will hurt the party in the short-term. Long-term might be a different matter – Scotland is probably more small ‘c’ Conservative than people realise.
Dr Moira Shemilt, 63, a retired lecturer from Livingston, west Lothian, and a former Labour party member who voted SNP for the first time in 2011, says joining the party is partly about trust.”
Since you joined, how many branch meetings have you attended?
I have been to four branch meetings. Have found them to be really interesting – in particular the process for choosing candidates to stand for parliament on 7 May. I voted for Hannah Bardell and was delighted when she was selected.
Interested in the fact that because of the swell in membership, the branch is changing. For example, my daughter asked if there was a Women’s Officer and reply was that there had not been one previously because the branch was too small. However, such a post is now in the pipeline.
Do you believe the polls?
The polls seem to have resulted in a media onslaught against the SNP and the very notion that Scots could demand their democratic right to influence a parliament and a union that we were encouraged to remain a part of. I am extremely uncomfortable about this. The “Jockophobia” that seems to be happening is troubling.
I joined the SNP because I simply want to see social democracy in this country. I have now been called stupid, scum, fascist, Nazi. I am in a place that I have never before encountered. The anger is palpable. The zeitgeist, however, is definitely for change.
Sue Lyons, 50, a mother of five and charity worker from Inverness, believes that the rise in membership will necessarily alter the top-heavy nature of the party. “That will be diluted, because people are taking over roles where before they didn’t have enough volunteers, so it will work in favour of bringing in new ideas. But it’s up to the SNP how much they let that happen.”
What SNP-related activities have you taken part in since joining? What other non-SNP political activities have you taken part in, if any?
I have been leafletting and canvassing. I have been to hustings and to the Nicola Sturgeon Tour. I have also been to the cabinet visit to Inverness last week. I have been involved in some Common Weal activity locally and I was recently elected to the national executive of Women for Independence. I was in Manchester last weekend, speaking on behalf of Women for Independence on the subject of women in Scotland pre and post referendum.
That was really interesting, as contrary to what we are reading in the press, people in Manchester seemed to be hoping that a large number of SNP MPs will shake things up considerably. Whilst they know the SNP supports independence and many don’t support that, they also feel that the policies of the SNP particularly around welfare, NHS, austerity and Trident can be of huge benefit to the rest of the UK. Far from being horrified many of the people I spoke to were hopeful that if the SNP can win plenty of seats then they can force change within the main parties in Westminster.
Among them is 18-year-old Morgan Horn, a first year politics student who joined the party after the referendum and is already vice-president of the SNP student group at Glasgow University. “I joined after the referendum because during the campaign I really believed it was about people, not party politics,” she explains.
How would you describe your experience of being an SNP member so far?
My experience so far has been really exciting. It has been something I’ve just thrown myself into, and with the campaigns being so active it’s been really easy to get involved. Branch meetings are really vibrant and interesting, and for this reason I have attended most. It’s really encouraging that there has been standing room only at times!
Do you believe the polls?
The polls are obviously really encouraging but we’re under no illusions and will not get complacent. We know that we need to work extremely hard in order to win every vote and every seat in May. I’m confident that through hard work, dedication that we can win a strong team of SNP MPs, to make Scotland’s voice heard and protect the things that really matter to us.
