The Scottish National party is described as many things, rightly or wrongly: a nationalist party and movement, ‘separatists’, a one-party state, even a ‘cult’. Missing is the sense of what animates and binds the SNP together as a political force beyond the cause of independence. At its core, the SNP is a tribe underpinned by a sense of community and of being an extended family of sorts. It’s true that this idea of the SNP as a family has provided a modus operandi throughout its history and rise to power. Now, though, this needs to be seen as a contributory factor in the scandals engulfing it.
It cannot be entirely accidental that the two defining leaders of the modern SNP, Salmond and Sturgeon, have both been implicated in major scandals.
The SNP was not always a mass party. When Alex Salmond returned to the leadership in 2004 it had well under 10,000 members (with only 6,536 voting in that contest); by the 2014 independence referendum, it still only had 25,000 card-carrying members.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in