Fergus Ewing: How the SNP fell out of love with the former minister as he faces suspension from the party

Fergus Ewing, the Inverness and Nairn MSP, is expected to be suspended from the party on Wednesday

His actions have been described as “very, very serious” by First Minister Humza Yousaf – and tomorrow now looms as D-Day for Fergus Ewing as the long-standing MSP faces suspension from the SNP.

Only 12 months ago, that scenario would have been difficult to imagine. The Ewing name is almost synonymous with the SNP and the wider independence movement.

Even now to some it might seem difficult, with Mr Ewing earlier this month winning the coveted MSP of the year award at Holyrood Magazine’s annual garden party.

But after repeatedly speaking out and voting against the Scottish Government, SNP MSPs will now vote on whether or not to sanction the Inverness and Nairn MSP for his numerous misdemeanours.

So how did we get here? The Scotsman takes a look back at exactly how the SNP fell out of love with one of its longest-serving parliamentarians.

The glory days

As the son of Madame Ecosse Winnie Ewing, Mr Ewing has been campaigning for the SNP and the independence movement since before a lot of the other MSPs who will be deciding his future were even born.

He has been the MSP for Inverness and Nairn since devolution in 1999 – he was there to see the historic moment when his mother officially reopened the Scottish Parliament.

Once the SNP came to power in 2007, Mr Ewing did well, serving as community safety minister and then as energy, enterprise and tourism minister under Alex Salmond.

Then in 2016 under Nicola Sturgeon, he became rural affairs secretary, bringing him right to the frontbenches. He has been a backbencher since 2019.

Bullying row

Mr Ewing was publicly accused of bullying civil servants based in Edinburgh in 2019 while he was rural affairs secretary.

In 2018, he was even forced to apologise for allegedly bullying a government official.

He completely rejects these accusations, but the allegations have remained a dark cloud hanging over him ever since he retreated to the backbenches.

The Bute House Agreement

Mr Ewing is nowadays often referred to in the media as a “rebel backbencher”, because he has spoken out on against so many Government policies.

But all of these policies pretty much have one thing in common – the Bute House Agreement.

This agreement officially brought the Scottish Greens into Government, and gave its two co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater ministerial roles.

Mr Ewing has spoken out against this agreement and has suggested SNP members be asked to vote again on whether or not to continue this partnership at the party conference next month.

This is where Mr Ewing’s downfall really begins.

Since the Bute House Agreement was signed, Mr Ewing has spoken out against proposals for a deposit return scheme, gender reforms, and licensing holiday lets.

Perhaps the most shocking display came during a debate on highly-protected marine areas earlier this year.

This policy could have seen fishing banned in up to 10 per cent of Scotland’s waters, and Mr Ewing was so against the idea he dramatically ripped up the policy document in the middle of the debating chamber.

No one left that debate in any doubt of what he thought on the matter.

A9 dualling

Mr Ewing has repeatedly called out the Scottish Government for delays to the A9 dualling project.

This project, which would have dualled the entirety of the A9 between Perth and his own constituency of Inverness, was due to be finished in 2025. It is now not possible for this target to be met, as only two sections of this project have actually been completed.

Thirteen people died on this stretch of the road in 2022 – a 20-year high – and Mr Ewing’s willingness to point out the delivery failures have been damaging for his Government.

Fergus Ewing versus Lorna Slater

All of Mr Ewing’s antics on the backbenches came to a head in June.

The Scottish Conservatives held a vote of no-confidence in Green government minister Lorna Slater over her handling of the deposit return scheme, which has since been delayed until at least October 2025.

They lost this vote, and Ms Slater kept her job as green skills, circular economy and biodiversity minister.

But Mr Ewing broke the party whip and voted against Ms Slater – something Mr Yousaf went on to describe as “very, very serious”.

This is pretty much where the SNP drew the line.

Mr Ewing was widely expected to be suspended from the party then and there, but almost immediately after the vote his mother died, and any talk of punishing him was taken temporarily off the table.

That is until now. SNP MSPs will meet on Wednesday, September 20 to decide his fate – there is a three-line whip on this, so all MSPs will have to attend this meeting, although they have not been told how to vote.

What will happen?

At this point it seems likely Mr Ewing will be sanctioned.

Before being appointed the SNP’s chief executive, the party’s former head of communications Murray Foote said: “Time needs to be called on the behaviour of politicians, who mistakenly believe they are bigger than the party – the clock is ticking.”

But not everyone is completely on board with this.

Fellow backbencher Michelle Thomson said it was “unwise and unnecessary” to suspend Mr Ewing.

Former finance secretary Kate Forbes, who Mr Ewing supported in the SNP leadership race, has also warned SNP leaders to be “extraordinarily careful” in disciplining him.

The SNP’s Holyrood group is expected to meet at 6pm on Wednesday to decide on Mr Ewing’s fate.