 | 'I shall return.' Alex Salmond MP, 15 th July 2004. |  |
| 'I shall return.' Alex Salmond MP, 15 th July 2004. | |
Alex Salmond knows his American generals. Three weeks ago, he cast himself as General Sherman, the Civil War commander who, when asked to stand as the republican candidate in the presidential election of 1884, responded: "I will not accept if nominated, and will not serve if elected." These were almost exactly the words Mr Salmond used last month to dismiss speculation that he would stand for the leadership of the SNP, the post he formerly held.
Yesterday, he invoked General MacArthur, who, when forced to retreat from the Philippines as the Japanese advanced in 1942, vowed: "I shall return." MacArthur kept his promise, leading the US forces' liberation of the islands.
The battle Mr Salmond set himself yesterday is political rather than military but, perhaps, no less problematic. As revealed by The Herald yesterday, he has decided to contest the party leadership, vacated last month by his successor, John Swinney. It was a U-turn of spectacular, tartan-tinged proportions, prompted, according to Mr Salmond, by the many appeals of party members urging him to stand and by the prospect of working in partnership with Nicola Sturgeon, who has withdrawn from the leadership race to be his deputy.
That it is a curious dream ticket is but one of the credibility problems facing Mr Salmond. He has never been seen as a team player. Indeed, the SNP was widely considered to be his one-man band when he led the party. Partnership has been forced upon him by circumstances. He had already announced, in November last year, that he planned to seek a return to the Scottish Parliament in the Holyrood elections of 2007. He had left in 2001 to be the SNP leader at Westminster, where he plans to remain as an MP. Such was his bullish mood yesterday that he even predicted the date of the next general election: May next year.
He will need all of his customary confidence, and a lot more besides, if he is to convince the Scottish public that he can fashion a meaningful recovery in the SNP's waning fortunes in the next Holyrood elections (he is already talking of victory in 2007) as, effectively, an absentee leader. Until then, assuming he wins the leadership contest, he will be in charge of the SNP at Westminster (where it
has five MPs) and in campaigning in Scotland, while Ms Sturgeon will be leader at Holyrood (where it boasts 27 MSPs). It is already easy to hear the "ask Alex" jeers from the Labour benches raining down on Ms Sturgeon when she rises to make a policy point or challenge ministers in debate. She faces a daunting, perhaps impossible, task to demonstrate she is her own politician with the formidable shadow of Mr Salmond hanging over her.
Of course, Michael Russell, who with Roseanna Cunningham is also standing for the leadership, would also have a deputy speaking for him at Holyrood should he be elected because, like Mr Salmond, he is not an MSP. The difference is that he did not voluntarily stop being an MSP. Many will still wonder why Mr Salmond has changed his mind. Is it to stop Ms Cunningham? Or is it that, having failed to make an impact at Westminster, he misses running the show where it matters most and prized political points can be scored? If the latter is the case, it will be 2007 at the earliest before he can perform in the chamber where he could make the biggest impact by inflicting wounds on Jack McConnell as leader of the official opposition. Mr Salmond faces many credibility hurdles. His candidacy has given the SNP a lift. Persuading the Scottish public that he is a serious contender to lead a government while being outside its parliament is another matter entirely.
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