Former SNP member Angus MacNeil has defected to the Alba Party (Image: PA)
The former MP for the Western Isles of Scotland has defected to – which was founded by Alex Salmond – a year after he was booted out of the for clashing with the chief whip.
Angus MacNeil, who won his constituency seat from Labour in 2005, sat as an independent MP within the Scotland United group after being expelled by the party and lost it in July’s .
In the latest blow to John Swinney’s embattled leadership, Mr MacNeil has now confirmed he is joining the Alba Party, founded by the late Alex Salmond, after publicly suggesting the is “clueless and disinterested about getting independence”.
The former MP won over 10% of the votes as an independent candidate in the general election – a higher percentage than any standing Alba members have picked up thus far.
And in a statement announcing his defection, Mr MacNeil teased another run for Holyrood in 2026 “if it helps to kick-start independence”.
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“[The has] no plan at all,” he said, “There are a lot of good people in the , but they can’t achieve anything on independence when the hierarchy has thwarted the debate for years. [They] left me, I didn’t leave them.”
Mr MacNeil was first suspended and then expelled by his party in 2023 following a row with then Chief Whip, Brendan O’Hara, who he branded a “small wee man” in front of colleagues, .
He has since hit out at the leadership of former First Ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, describing the former as “intolerant of anyone else’s view” and party members as sheep who “take a line without thinking it through”.
The defection has prompted Alba Party General Secretary Chris McEleny to warn that Mr MacNeil “will not be the last high-profile new member … in the coming weeks and months”.
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It comes amid growing pressure on Holyrood’s Finance Secretary Shona Robinson following her outline of the draft Scottish Budget for 2025.
The bill, which focuses on public services, the economy, renewable energy and eradicating child poverty, will be scrutinised in Scottish Parliament over the winter before a vote in February.
The minority government needs at least one other party to back to the Budget for it to pass, though none has yet committed to doing so. Their best hopes are the Greens or the Liberal Democrats.