SNP Leadership contest 2004

'IÕm very pleased that so many of our party members have taken this opportunity to participate in the selection of our new leader and depute leader.' SNP National Secretary, Dr Alasdair Allan, 1 st September 2004.

Salmond on brink of victory in SNP leadership battle

By Alison Hardie, political correspondent in the Scotsman, 1 st September 2004

VOTING closed yesterday in the Scottish National Party leadership election, with Alex Salmond the firm favourite to win.

However, it emerged last night that his landslide victory is not likely to be replicated in the race for the deputy leadership and the outcome is still a matter of considerable uncertainty.

Alasdair Allan, the SNP national secretary, will announce the result in Edinburgh on Friday with Mr Salmond likely to see off the challenge from Mike Russell, the former SNP chief executive, and Roseanna Cunningham, the current deputy leader.

Despite a lively campaign from all the candidates - including a fiery appearance by the three leadership contenders on television - the response from SNP members has not been as convincing as some senior party figures would have hoped.

A little over 60 per cent of the 8,200 membership had voted by the end of last week.

According to insiders that figure had risen to somewhere over 70 per cent when polling closed last night, but party managers admitted they will be lucky if it tops 75 per cent.

Mr Salmond chose to run with Nicola Sturgeon, the partyÕs justice spokeswoman, on a joint leader and deputy leaderÕs ticket but there is still considerable doubt as to whether this strategy has been a success.

While most party insiders expect Mr Salmond to win with a comfortable majority, very few expect Ms Sturgeon to triumph so easily.

Despite her talent in parliamentary debates, Ms Sturgeon has never managed to develop a personal support base within the SNP.

She has also found it hard to shake off the tag of being sorcererÕs apprentice to Mr Salmond after rising through the partyÕs ranks during the 1990s with his blessing.

It was looking increasingly likely last night that Fergus Ewing, whose family links to the SNP have garnered him considerable voter support, had run Ms Sturgeon close and could emerge as the winner.

The other candidate for the deputy leadership, Christine Grahame, is not expected to win but she will have taken votes from Ms Sturgeon, particularly among left-leaning women in the party, and could help hand the contest to Mr Ewing.

A Salmond/Ewing leadership will prove more difficult for Mr Salmond as he has never been as close to Mr Ewing politically as he has to Ms Sturgeon.

Peter Murrell, the party chief executive, said he expected to receive the spoiled ballot papers yesterday and the official turnout figure from the Electoral Reform Society, which is organising the election.

But he stressed that he would not see the result until it is faxed through by the society on Friday morning, just before the result is announced.

Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon have fought for votes right until the polls closed using a variety of inventive campaigning tactics.

On Monday the pair made one last attempt to garner support, staging a photo opportunity in a Leith curry house where the chef had prepared a salmon curry and used caviare in a side dish.

However, given that all the votes have to be received by post in London yesterday, it was unlikely to have had much effect on the final result.

The contest for leader of the SNP was sparked when John Swinney resigned in June following poor results in the European elections in which the party failed to overtake Labour.

The MSP for Tayside North was elected party leader in September 2000 but latterly faced criticism for accepting the concept of devolution. Mr Swinney believed independence would be achieved by increasing the power and influence of his party, using the Scottish Parliament as a platform.

However, he faced opposition from fundamentalists who said the SNP should focus on the objective of total independence.