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A second Westminster MP has defected from the SNP to join Alex Salmond’s new Scottish independence party.
Neale Hanvey, MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, has followed Kenny MacAskill MP in making the switch to the dawn party.
He will run as a candidate for the central seat of Scotland and Fife in the Scottish Parliament elections on 6 May.
Kenny MacAskill has also taken the step
In announcing his candidacy for the independence party, he said: “Like so many, I have been angered by our helplessness over Brexit and I share the frustration of many who feel that the aspirations of the independence movement are being ignored.
“The Alba Party provides a tonic for our movement with an unabashedly optimistic view of Scotland’s impending transition to an independent European nation.”
Hanvey, who won the seat former Prime Minister Gordon Brown once held, has had a controversial career at one point in Westminster.
In 2019, the SNP suspended him for using anti-Semitic language on social media.
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Salmond’s speech to the voters of independence
In the days following his suspension, he apologized “unreservedly” for any wrongdoing.
In February this year, he was fired from the front seat as a vaccine spokesperson after supporting a crowdfunding campaign launched to sue a fellow SNP parliamentarian, Kirsty Blackman, for defamation. The episode took place in the middle of a feud at the party for trans rights.
Hanvey’s defection to the Alba party comes after Kenny MacAskill, MP for East Lothian and former Scottish attorney general, revealed that he was transferring from the SNP to the party led by Alex Salmond.
The Alba independence party has also announced that Councilor Lynne Anderson, the SNP’s national equality convener, has been transferred to its ranks and will run as a candidate in Central Scotland.
Salmond launched his new party on Friday, announcing a declared intention to create a “supermajority” for Scottish independence within the Holyrood parliament. The launch of the party has drawn harsh criticism from opponents, including his successor and current leader of the SNP.
Nicola Sturgeon has described her opponent as a ‘gamer’
Nicola sturgeon said, “I am not happy to say this, but I think there is important questions about the suitability of your return to public office, given concerns that have been raised about his behavior in the past.
“It is not an opportunity to bet on the future of the country. I know that, by knowing well in past years, Alex Salmond is a player, it is what he likes to do, but this is not the time to bet on the future of the country. country.”
