 | 'Mike will be wearing his underpants outside his trousers soon.' Christine Grahame MSP, 8 th August 2004. |  |
| 'Mike will be wearing his underpants outside his trousers soon.' Christine Grahame MSP, 8 th August 2004. | |
ALEX Salmond's campaign to regain the leadership of the SNP was given a further boost yesterday after veteran shipyard union leader Jimmy Reid publicly endorsed his candidacy.
Mr Reid, who inspired the famous work-in at Upper Clyde Shipbuilders in the early 1970s, also said it was time Scots "bit the bullet" and voted for independence.
In an open letter to Mr Salmond and running mate Nicola Sturgeon, who is standing as deputy leader, the former Labour Party candidate said they offered the best way forward for Scotland.
Mr Reid is the latest in a string of high-profile figures to back Mr Salmond's bid.
Last week, Bruce Crawford, the party's chief whip at Holyrood, became the latest heavyweight Nationalist to declare for Mr Salmond following a number of MSPs, including Kenny MacAskill, Shona Robison, Tricia Marwick, Richard Lochhead, Fiona Hyslop and Stewart Maxwell.
Mr Salmond has already secured the unanimous backing of his Westminster colleagues, with Annabelle Ewing, Angus Robertson, Mike Weir and Peter Wishart declaring their support alongside MEP Ian Hudghton.
This weekend also saw Alyn Smith MEP, the SNP's newest and youngest parliamentarian, announce his backing for the joint ticket.
By contrast, the campaigns of rivals Mike Russell and Roseanna Cunningham have failed to attract high-profile support in similar numbers, although Ms Cunningham has been endorsed by a clutch of MSPs including Linda Fabiani, Rob Gibson, Sandra White and Christine Grahame.
The prospective leaders and deputy leaders were in Glasgow yesterday for the latest in a series of public hustings across the country.
During several hours of lively debate, some 250 party activists heard calls for SNP workers at the party's Edinburgh headquarters and elsewhere to leave unless they were members of the party.
Mr Salmond said: "I'm going to change the situation where the majority of people who work for MSPs and some who work at national HQ are not party members.
"I think it's an incredible position to have because you are asking volunteers to do things in their own time and the least they can expect from people who work for the party is that they show the same level of commitment."
An equally tough line was taken on the future of MSP Campbell Martin, expelled from the party after a prolonged campaign against former leader John Swinney.
Ms Cunningham said: "Campbell had an opportunity when he was suspended to button his lip and regrettably he didn't do it. I think this party has got to ask itself if it is prepared to go on having elected representatives who are themselves effectively saying 'don't vote SNP'. In effect, he got what he deserved."
Both Mr Salmond and Mr Russell took a more charitable line promising a "clean slate", although neither made a commitment on Mr Campbell's future.
Meanwhile, Mr Russell's promise to turn around the fortunes of the SNP within 100 days if elected provided a moment of light relief at the hustings.
Christine Grahame, who is running for deputy leader, dismissed the idea that the ills of the party could be solved in such a short time. In a reference to the character Superman, she joked: "Mike will be wearing his underpants outside his trousers soon."
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