Alba members call on leader to 'fight election or resign'

A group of Alba Party members have called on leader Kenny MacAskill to stand down if he is not willing to lead the party into the Scottish Parliament election.

MacAskill said the party was unlikely to contest the vote and warned over its long-term sustainability due to a "perilous financial position".

However, leading figures including former SNP MP Angus MacNeil, ex-Solidarity leader Tommy Sheridan and Christina Hendry, niece of late party founder, Alex Salmond, want to field candidates on the regional list.

An Alba spokesman described the party as "financially insolvent" and said no "credible alternative" to its current situation had been offered.

A statement by the members, under the name of The Alba Continuation Group, calls for MacAskill to "commit to fighting" the election in May or "resign and allow others to lead the fight".

Hendry said: "It is abundantly clear that the wider Alba membership want a say in the future of the party.

"Kenny MacAskill and others within the small leadership group must see reason.

"It's time to put the future of the party to a full membership vote, this should be a decision for the 4,000 members, not the four in the leadership team."

In a newsletter sent to members on Friday, before the call for him to resign, MacAskill said: "I cannot understand the motivations of individuals who, whether through self-aggrandisement or political ambitions, are making an already desperate situation worse for our party and are damaging the cause of independence."

He added that hundreds of members had cancelled direct debits and redundancy consultations with staff had begun.

Macaskill became leader of Alba following former leader Salmond's death in October 2024.

Earlier this week, he told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast the party's financial difficulties were due to it being defrauded.

Police Scotland has been investigating allegations of "irregularities" in the party's finances since May last year.

It followed a row between the party and its former general secretary, Chris McEleny.

McEleny was dismissed last year after being accused of gross misconduct.

A source previously told BBC Scotland he was "completely content" that the finances of the party under Salmond's leadership "were both sound and compliant".

An Alba spokesman said no decision to re-register the party could be taken until after its 2024 accounts were audited and registered with the Electoral Commission.

He added that it would be "irresponsible and unethical" to rack up further debts, which would would leave members of the party's national executive committee financially liable.

He said: "The party is financially insolvent and cannot meet its existing debts, never mind those funds that would be required to fight an election.

"Those who would seek to assume control without a democratic mandate or shred of constitutional authority have yet to offer a credible alternative plan which can chart a way out of the party's current difficulties.

"Nor has a willingness been forthcoming to take on the legal indemnity for significant financial liabilities, which cannot simply be wished away."