Ash Regan quit Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP government almost three years ago in protest at the former first minister’s controversial gender reform bill. Regan rose to prominence after she left her role as community safety minister over the legislation and then stood, unsuccessfully, to be leader of the party in 2023 after Sturgeon stepped down. Fast forward about six months and Regan ditched the SNP altogether, defecting to the late Alex Salmond’s Alba party. Now, the pro-independence party’s Holyrood leader speaks to The Spectator about the changing state of politics north of the border, the first in a series of special Coffee House Shots episodes in the run-up to the 2026 Holyrood elections.
It was only a few months ago that Regan contested the Alba party leadership, following the death of Alex Salmond. She narrowly lost to political veteran and Salmond’s deputy, Kenny MacAskill, receiving 48 per cent of the vote to his 52.
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