Ex-leader slams Swinney strategy

JOHN Swinney was under intense pressure to quit as SNP leader last night as one of his predecessors branded his economic strategy "meaningless" and senior colleagues claimed his position is now untenable.

Gordon Wilson, who led the SNP until 1990, said Swinney made a fatal error by campaigning for fiscal autonomy which would see the Scottish parliament given new tax powers.

Instead, he said the leader, who is now the subject of a whispering campaign, should have fought an aggressive, emotional election contest with Scottish independence at its heart.

Wilson told Scotland on Sunday: "The economic argument was far too academic. We talk about fiscal autonomy which is meaningless to the ordinary and even extraordinary man in the street."

The dramatic intervention by the party’s elder statesman, who remains an influential figure, is a serious setback for Swinney after a disastrous election result which wiped out almost a quarter of his MSPs despite widespread public unease with Labour’s performance in the Scottish parliament over the last four years.

Swinney, who met his 26 fellow MSPs yesterday to pick over the bones of their disappointing performance, insists he has no plans to quit. He has unveiled a series of internal reforms designed to better equip the party machine for success in 2007 and says he intends to see them through.

But senior colleagues, including some normally loyal to him, said he could no longer continue as party leader.

One senior SNP figure close to the leader said: "I think it is hard for him to continue to serve even in the medium term after this. There is a difficulty for him and there is also a question of whether he wants to be leader after this."

Jim Sillars, the former SNP deputy leader, was one of the few to call publicly for Swinney to quit yesterday, launching a scathing attack and calling for a more radical approach.

He said: "Between him and Salmond, in their desperation for the wee bit of power that Holyrood offers, they turned a dynamic force in Scottish politics into a eunuch.

"Did they not know that if the party of independence becomes ashamed of independence, the public will not reward it with votes, only contempt. The fall in the SNP vote, taking it back to around 1992 levels, is exactly what they deserved. John Swinney should go."

While even Swinney’s strongest critics admit that there are no obvious candidates to replace him, it looks increasingly that a leadership challenge will take place at the party’s annual conference in September.

Last night party sources suggested a stalking horse candidate with little chance of winning could declare by July, drawing out other heavyweight figures who would not wish to be seen to be ‘wielding the dagger’. Deputy leader Roseanna Cunningham, former SNP shadow education minister Michael Russell and MSP Alex Neil have all signalled that they do not wish to stand.

Yesterday Cunningham said any questions about Swinney’s future were "ridiculous".

Neil said the result had been "very disappointing" but added: "We as a party will remain united and look at why we did so disappointingly. There’s no leadership vacancy and as long as there’s no vacancy there will be no leadership bid."

Yesterday, Swinney’s supporters came out fighting, publicly throwing their weight behind him.

Ian Blackford, the former SNP treasurer and a strong champion of independence, said he believed Swinney would survive and appealed for unity.

"Looking at leadership is not the answer," he said.

"The SNP has to learn from its mistakes and have a mature response to how we evolve into a party of government in 2007. I can understand that people are feeling hurt and bruised but I say to them: don’t let your egos destroy your judgment."

Yesterday Swinney re-iterated his determination to lead the party to victory in 2007. He said: "The results show quite clearly that where the SNP goes head to head in very close first-past-the-post campaigns we are successful.

"What the SNP needs to do is to strengthen its constituency campaigning and make sure we change the landscape in first-past-the-post seats across Scotland."

But Gordon Wilson indicated that while nationalism has not been killed stone dead, independence could now be 15 years away.

He said the party had done well to gain first-past-the-post seats but must become more motivational if it is to achieve its goal. "It has become too conventional, it has become too much of a political party when it should get back to being a revolutionary party with a democratic aim."

Yesterday, it also emerged that the SNP MSP for Ochil, George Reid, is to seek the support of colleagues to be elected as the Scottish parliament’s presiding officer. Reid has been deputy to Lord Steel for the last four years.