As the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon enters the last leg, the three competing candidates are haranguing their own party, the SNP, over its failure to publish its membership figures.
SNP headquarters issued a statement refusing to reveal the number of members voting in the leadership contest, and party chiefs have suggested they’ll only do so after the race to replace Sturgeon is over.
But this hasn’t satisfied the three contenders, who have demanded transparency on the matter. Kate Forbes and Ash Regan called on SNP chief executive (and husband of Sturgeon) Peter Murrell to release the information “as soon as possible”. Humza Yousaf’s team also “sought assurances” that the figures would be published promptly.
Regan’s team even threatened to raise the stakes if SNP HQ fails to provide clarity by tomorrow. In a statement, her team said: “If we do not receive a satisfactory response addressing our legitimate request… by 3pm on 16 March, Ash Regan will hold a press conference outside Parliament to address the matter further.”
Even Ian Blackford, the party’s former Westminster leader, has weighed in. The MP said over the weekend: “It is important that we have an open contest. It would be better if we know how many people have voted and what percentage of the membership that represents.”
A source within Regan’s campaign previously told The National that not having an accurate figure made it more difficult to campaign as candidates weren’t able to gauge targets for the number of members they should contact.
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