 | 'It will be a
different contest from the one people expected.' Michael Russell, 15 th July 2004. |  |
| 'It will be a
different contest from the one people expected.' Michael Russell, 15 th July 2004. | |
Opponent MIKE Russell, the former SNP chief executive, welcomed Alex Salmond to the party leadership contest but admitted to being "deeply surprised" at the move.
As he prepared to hand in his candidate nomination papers in Edinburgh, Mr Russell said: "I'm not afraid, in any sense, of a policy debate with Alex, because I used to write the lines for him."
He added: "I'm pleased there is now a recognition that you don't need to be a member of the Scottish Parliament to lead the SNP, and that appeared to be a barrier to my candidacy. That has been very helpfully swept away by Alex."
Everybody, he said, had as-sumed Mr Salmond would not be standing after his earlier comment when John Swinney stood down: "If nominated, I'll decline. If drafted, I'll defer. And if elected, I'll resign."
Mr Russell, who lost his Scottish Parliament seat last year, said: "People took that
as a definite statement and there will now be a reassessment . . . It will be a
different contest from the one people expected."
He said he had not spoken to Nicola Sturgeon about her decision to stand aside for
Mr Salmond. However, he said it was essential that every SNP member was seen as
an equal.
"The reality of the situation is it must never look as if it is merely the shuffling of
the deckchairs, and it must never look as if fixes are taking place. I'm sure Nicola
came to the decision for entirely good reasons, and her own reasons.
"I have always been friendly and shall remain friendly with her, as indeed I have been with Alex over the years."
He said he was sure whoever took the top roles would act for the good of the party. "I don't see any bogeymen."
Return to home page