A veteran SNP figure has told the party that members are gripped by a mood of low morale over John Swinney's lack of any visible route to independence. At the party's annual conference in Aberdeen, Alex Neil contended that those at the top of the organisation had no workable plan for moving the independence cause forward.

At the previous year's gathering, Swinney put forward the position that an SNP majority of MSPs at the 2026 Holyrood election would confer a mandate to pursue IndyRef2 — a threshold the party narrowly missed by seven seats. The First Minister has since adjusted the approach, pointing to what is described as a pro-independence majority across Holyrood — a figure that incorporates Green MSPs — as grounds for the UK Government to grant another referendum.

Neil — who held Cabinet posts under both Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon — argued that backing for independence would need to reach above 55 per cent before any meaningful push forward could be justified. He also consistently maintained his opposition to a second independence referendum, citing the 2024 Labour manifesto's commitment to keeping the United Kingdom intact.

When asked about the mood among SNP members ahead of the party conference, Neil described a membership gripped by a profound sense of despondency. The former MSP argued that even the Greens had expressed reservations about the approach being taken, and called on Swinney to use his keynote address on Saturday to lay out a concrete path toward achieving independence.

One source argued that the Scottish Government's record left voters across Scotland largely dissatisfied, drawing an unfavourable contrast with the Salmond administration, which was seen as delivering tangible policy actions at pace. The present administration's handling of local government and health service restructuring, though both were acknowledged as necessary, has been characterised by insufficient preparation and undue haste, raising doubts about whether the National Care Service proposals, in their present form, can secure a parliamentary majority.

Neil's broader point centred on the SNP demonstrating a track record of competent governance before any route toward independence becomes viable. He also argued that the pro-independence case put forward in 2014 requires a thorough overhaul to address the range of questions that have shifted since then, and that backing for leaving the union would need to climb past the 55 per cent mark before any fresh push could gain traction.

The party announced plans to use its upcoming conference to roll out what it described as the broadest campaign in favour of independence since the 2014 vote. A senior figure argued that once support for separation becomes the settled preference of Scottish voters, Westminster would have no grounds to stand in the way.

Swinney told the conference that the SNP and the Yes movement had returned to Holyrood with what he described as their largest pro-independence parliamentary majority on record, that polling placed independence ahead, and that constitutional change across the islands was gathering pace. He pointed to those conditions as the basis for launching Choose Scotland, a campaign he positioned as the most extensive pro-independence effort the party had mounted since the referendum.