Alex Salmond and I wanted to build a new Scottish town called 'Independence', says Alba ally

A candidate for the Alba Party’s deputy leadership has said he and Alex Salmond planned a new Scottish town called Independence.

Chris McEleny said he and the former first minister shared a “vision for a new Scottish town”.

Alex Salmond and Chris McEleny | NationalWorld

Alba is choosing a new leader following the death of Mr Salmond at a conference in North Macedonia in October last year. Its sole MSP Ash Regan and former MP Kenny MacAskill are both vying for the leadership position ahead of a conference in March.

Mr McEleny is Alba’s general secretary, though he was suspended earlier this month over claims of “gross misconduct”. He has emphasised his close links with Mr Salmond, who launched the pro-independence party as a rival to the SNP in 2021.

Chris McEleny has joined the Alba Party. Picture: John Devlin

Mr McEleny said: “Alex Salmond and I had a vision for a new Scottish town and we could think of no better name than Independence. Scotland has an abundance of renewable energy potential. At the moment the Westminster plan is to cable most of that energy south with no benefit to Scotland.

“What we should be doing is using that energy to attract the industries of today and tomorrow to Scotland by using the incentive of cheaper energy anywhere else in Europe.

“Such an influx of highly-skilled jobs would require the industries, the labour force and the infrastructure to all be mutually beneficial to each other – that is why a new town would make sense.

“A new Scottish town has not been designated since not long after the Second World War. Now is the right time to begin a discussion to make a town called Independence a reality.”