An Alba leadership contender has claimed she brought down Nicola Sturgeon as SNP First Minister and her husband Peter Murrell. Ash Regan said her resignation from government over Sturgeon’s gender reform plans set in train Sturgeon’s downfall.
The MSP also said her rival for the Alba crown, Kenny MacAskill, found it hard to “cut through” when he was an MP.
Regan was Sturgeon’s community safety minister before quitting in 2022 in protest at plans for gender self-ID for trans people. She unsuccessfully stood for the SNP leadership when Sturgeon quit months later and eventually defected to the pro-independence Alba.
She is now a candidate in the race to become Alba leader after Alex Salmond died of a heart attack.
In an interview with the Record, Regan said being Alba’s only parliamentarian would be a huge advantage as leader. “If you are in the Scottish Parliament, you have the ability to set the political weather,” she said.
“It’s almost impossible to do that if you are not elected. You do not have that platform and you are not in the Scottish Parliament.”
She is also running on her record and is claiming three major political scalps. She said of quitting as Minister: “I would argue that my resignation from government was the beginning of the end for Nicola Sturgeon’s reign.
Asked if her resignation was the turning point for Sturgeon, she said: “Absolutely. She only lasted another four months after that. I resigned at the end of October and she announced her intention to go by mid-February.”
Regan said resigning as a Minister brought greater focus on Sturgeon’s self ID plan and was followed by outrage over rapist Isla Bryson ending up in a women’s prison.
“I think that crystallised in the mind of the public, in a way it hadn’t before, that what we were saying about the gender reform bill and it having real life effects for women and girls in Scotland. Then it became real for the public and they just could not understand what the SNP was doing basically on that issue.”
In the SNP leadership contest triggered by Sturgeon resigning, Regan led the charge for transparency over party membership numbers. Murrell was party chief executive at the time and the publication of the figures led to claims of lying and he also walked.
She said: “I effectively removed Murrell from SNP HQ during that contest because of my interest in transparency and my interest in making sure we knew what the level of membership was in the party.”
Regan added: “I also got rid of the Greens from Government.”
She said the Green/SNP deal was axed after her decision to table a motion of no confidence in Green co-leader Patrick Harvie when was a Minister. She took this action when Harvie gave a “car crash TV interview” by refusing to back the Cass review into gender identity services.
She said her intervention led to a “cascade of events” ending with Humza Yousaf ending the Bute House Agreement with the Greens.
An SNP source described Regan’s comments on bringing down Sturgeon and Murrell as “delusional”.
Alba has performed dismally in elections but Regan believes she can make the party a success by broadening its support base. She was asked if MacAskill, a former SNP Justice Secretary and Alba MP, would make a good leader:
“I think it would be very, very difficult to have the impact, and to have the engagement from the press, from outside of the parliament when you are not elected.”
When she joined Alba, she said MacAskill and Neil Hanvey were the party’s two MPs: “And yet, they were finding it very difficult to cut through, I would say, on most topics.”
“If you do look at the polling, and you look at it from when I joined over the last 15 months, you will see that Alba is starting to resonate with the public.”
“I believe that is partly to do with having someone who is elected….but also because it’s me and I have got a profile.”
On whether MacAskill could be seen as a voice from the past, she replied: “I think it’s possible.” She also draws attention to Alba’s election broadcast: “Kenny wasn’t in it.”
Regan says the broadcast was trying hard to position Alba with younger, fresher and female voices: “This was very deliberate.”
MacAskill, a Nationalist veteran, is believed to have the support of Salmond’s family, including his widow Moira. Regan is untroubled by the backing: “It was very much Alex’s party, I think everyone would agree that.
“And so, for them, to keep the party as it was, you know, as a tribute to Alex. My view on that is a bit different. The best tribute to Alex is for the party to be successful.”
She said Salmond was so happy with the job she was doing that he sent her a bottle of champagne.
Her “stretch target” is for Alba to return 15 MSPs next year and maximise their influence. Regan does not rule out a coalition with the SNP but signals a “confidence and supply” deal installing John Swinney as First Minister would be preferable.
She is clear on her red line: “Independence is non-negotiable for Alba.”
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