EDINBURGH (AFP) – Scotland’s governing Scottish National Party (SNP) is holding a conference this weekend to reignite its faltering quest for independence, as public support wanes and after its former leader was arrested.
The meeting in Dundee will be the first in-person conference since Humza Yousaf, 38, took the helm in March, and the party saw a drastic change in fortunes.
His predecessor as SNP leader and Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, was the figurehead of the independence movement, overseeing a surge in support, particularly after Brexit and during the Covid pandemic.
But in February she unexpectedly announced her resignation after nearly nine years in office, saying she lacked the “energy” to carry on.
Sturgeon, who came to power after the last – failed – 2014 referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom (UK), has since been arrested with her husband over claims of mismanagement of SNP finances.
Both have denied any impropriety and been released without charge. The turnaround in SNP fortunes was laid bare in a recent YouGov poll that suggested the party would haemorrhage seats if a UK general election were held now.
The SNP currently represents 48 of Scotland’s 59 constituencies in the UK Parliament in London.
