Changed, changed utterly - the SNP is now a different party

This leadership election marks a watershed for the Scottish National Party and the independence cause

I feel for SNP members right now. No really, I do. They never wanted this leadership election, were very happy with Nicola Sturgeon as leader and have been traumatised by the divisions her departure unleashed.  The campaign seems only to have just got underway and already they’re expected to vote  - on candiates who seem to come from different political parties so radical are their disagreements. Hardly surprising that “Don’t Know” still seems to be leading the field.

What a choice.  Do they opt for Humza smoothie, a minister with a record so poor that even the SNP Finance Secretary calls him a three time looser.  Or do they go for straight-talking Kate Forbes who’s faith-based attitudes to gay marriage and abortion seem out of tune with the times. Or might they opt, in despair, for telegenic Ash Regan, who at least puts independence front and centre, but who sounds as if she’s just mugged up  monetary policy from Wikipedia, and doesn’t know the difference between the United Kingdom and the British Empire.

The TV debates have left many SNP members shell-shocked. Most of them can’t remember when the party last had a leadership election like this - when everyone is suddenly fighting each other.  Not since the 1990’s, and the splits over Europe and devolution, has there been anything similar.

Social media is now alive with conspiracies theories about election-rigging and conflicts of interest. Ash  Regan says that leaving Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, in charge of the election is like “Carrie counting the votes of Boris’s rivals”.  Peter Murrell is the SNP chief executive and supposedly above suspicion.  Not any more.

Some SNP members seem to think, with no obvious justification, that the FM’s spouse is a crook. This  corrosive climate of mistrust gives the media endless scope to portray the SNP as at war with itself. Which, let’s be honest, it is.

So when they finally get their wits together, how are the bewildered legions going to vote, and who will get the keys to Bute House on 27th March?…