Ash Regan’s departure from the SNP may be no great loss. But it’s not inconsequential - Euan McColm

Regan’s defection can only embolden the fundamentalists of the Yes movement

When one of those he defeated in this year’s SNP leadership contest jumped ship to Alex Salmond’s Alba party at the weekend, Humza Yousaf was far from gracious.

The departure of Ash Regan MSP - who came third behind Yousaf and Kate Forbes in the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon - was, said the First Minister, “no great loss” to his party.

Of course, the SNP leader’s political opponents reacted as if Regan’s defection - which came a week after nationalist MP Lisa Cameron crossed the floor to join the Conservatives - marked the beginning of the end of his reign. Here was a First Minister losing control of a fracturing party. How long could he last before conceding that, for him, the game was over?

I’m inclined to think Yousaf’s assessment is pretty accurate. Regan’s departure is no great loss. But that’s not to say it will be inconsequential.

Long before she stood for the leadership of the SNP, the MSP had made clear that her political priorities did not align with Yousaf’s. Regan is a fundamentalist when it comes to the independence question, demanding swift and decisive action to break up the UK.

On what precisely that action might look like, she seems unclear - during the SNP leadership campaign, Regan’s big idea was the creation of an “independence thermometer” which would display rising support for secession - but action there must be.

The SNP will, I’m sure, survive the departure of Ash Regan. But her decision to jump ship won’t help the independence cause.

Regan has played her part in deepening divisions in the wider Yes movement and that cannot be good news for anyone who believes in ending the Union.

For a very long time, the SNP was split down the middle. On one side were the fundamentalists for whom devolution was a cop out.

On the other side were the gradualists, those nationalists who saw the value in little victories on the route to independence.

Ironically, it was Alex Salmond - now self-styled champion of the fundamentalists - who brought the SNP together under the gradualist banner.

Regan’s defection can only embolden the fundamentalists of the Yes movement, encouraging them to believe there is a quick and easy route to independence when the truth is that none exists.

Salmond’s rebirth as a nationalist radical is fascinating. Doubtless, there are many pro-independence Scots who believe him to be the fundamentalists he appears to be.

Others may wonder whether he is motivated less by the desire to achieve independence than by the wish to make life as difficult as possible for the SNP.

Salmond, a man with a long memory, was bruised by his former party’s failure to stand by him when he was accused of inappropriate behaviour by a number of women. After a court cleared Salmond of the charges, few who know the slightest bit about the man believed that he would slip off into obscurity.

Ash Regan’s departure from the SNP removes a thorn from Humza Yousaf’s side. But it will also embolden Alex Salmond in his mission to avenge the “betrayal” of his former colleagues.