The SNP leadership race descended into a vote rigging row tonight as all three candidates to replace Nicola Sturgeon attacked senior party executives – including her husband.
The three candidates vying to be the next SNP leader have called on the party to publish its current membership figures to show the size of the electorate who will chose the next First Minister.
Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan have all said the party must release details of how many people are eligible to vote in the contest.
But the party tonight refused to reveal the numbers until the result of the vote is announced on March 27, sparking accusations of secrecy.
Ms Regan, the outsider and a critic of Ms Sturgeon, said that the numbers were required to ensure ‘a fair and transparent leadership election’.
In a letter to Peter Murrell, the SNP CEO who is also Ms Sturgeon’s husband, she said: ‘As the chief executive officer of the SNP, it is your responsibility to ensure that the leadership election process is transparent, fair, and equitable.’
‘Providing this information is crucial to fostering trust and confidence among the candidates, their campaign teams, and the party members who are participating in the election.’
Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan have all said the party must release details of how many people are eligible to vote in the contest.
In a letter to Peter Murrell, the SNP CEO who is also Ms Sturgeon’s husband, Ms Regan said: ‘As the chief executive officer of the SNP, it is your responsibility to ensure that the leadership election process is transparent, fair, and equitable.’
Voting began earlier this week in the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon as the party’s leader and First Minister, with members having the choice of voting electronically or on paper. However the exact size of the electorate remains unclear.
Figures from the Electoral Commission show that in December 2021, the SNP had around 104,000 members.
The Mail On Sunday newspaper reported at the weekend that 78,000 online forms were being sent out.
A spokesman for Ms Forbes said: ‘It is standard practice for any election to be made aware of voting numbers in advance. This should be no different.’
Neil Gray, who is Mr Yousaf’s campaign manager as well as being a Scottish Government minister, said: ‘Yesterday, Humza’s campaign team also asked for the figures to be published and sought assurances this would be done as soon as possible.’
But tonight an SNP spokesman would only say: ‘Candidates have already been made aware that responsibility for the leadership election does not rest with any member of staff.
The candidates have been told that the number of votes, percentage share, and turnout will be published when the result is declared.
It came after the trio last night doubled down on their extremes plans for the country’s future in another brutal televised bunfight.
Ms Forbes and Ms Regan were unequivocal in their answer while Mr Yousaf – who previously said he wants to ditch Sterliong and the King – said he believes ‘it can be’.
Mr Yousaf used a Monday debate on Sky News to reveal he would like to replace King Charles (pictured yesterday knighting Queen’s Brian May) with an elected head of state within five years of independence.
They all told the BBC debate they believe Scotland can be independent within five years.
In a wide-ranging debate – the last televised event before the winner is announced on March 27 they all agreed the country could leave the UK by 2028.
Ms Forbes and Ms Regan were unequivocal in their answer while Mr Yousaf said he believes ‘it can be’.
He used a Monday debate on Sky News to reveal he would like to replace King Charles with an elected head of state within five years of independence.
He also added that he would be ‘keen’ to transition to a new Scottish currency as ‘quickly as possible’, ditching Sterling.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said: ‘The last SNP leadership debate ended where it all began – with each candidate trying to outdo the other on independence.
‘Scotland’s real priorities continue to be ignored as the SNP descends further into civil war … whoever wins, Scotland loses.’
The candidates also clashed last night over the Scottish Government’s deposit return scheme (DRS), which has come under fire over its delivery in recent weeks.
Ms Regan and Ms Forbes have both said they would pause the scheme while the Mr Yousaf, the Health Minister, has pledged to create an exemption for small businesses.
Ms Regan said: ‘We can’t be putting too many burdens on small businesses.
‘We need to look again at this, we need to involve small business, to come and talk to us about where it needs changed, get it right and then implement it.’
Ms Forbes also said small businesses needed a ‘bit of breathing space’.
Mr Yousaf said he would not ‘slag off’ Lorna Slater, the Scottish Green minister responsible for bringing in the initiative.
He said small firms, such as craft breweries and gin makers, should be excluded from it for its first year but added: ‘I can’t see any point in pausing the scheme when the big boys, the Coca Colas, the Pepsis of this world, they are already taking part in about 40 DRS schemes across the world.
‘So, let’s not let them off the hook.’
However, the Finance Secretary accused Mr Yousaf of ‘pretty desperate spin’ in labelling her position on the scheme to ‘letting big business off the hook’.
‘I think it’s perfectly progressive to represent small businesses, because small businesses are indeed the backbone of our Scottish economy,’ Ms Forbes said.
‘That is not a lurch to the right, that is pretty desperate spin.’
Responding, Mr Yousaf said: ‘I think you’re appealing to big business by letting them off the hook in a really important scheme, because climate is so important to all of us.’
Elsewhere, Mr Yousaf and Ms Regan clashed over transgender prisoners.
Humza Yousaf declared to the live audience that Isla Bryson – a transgender rapist housed for a short time in Scotland’s single female-only prison – was ‘at it’.
Asked during the BBC’s SNP leadership debate by former minister Ash Regan about the issue, Mr Yousaf said: ‘Isla Bryson should not be in a woman’s prison.
‘Isla Bryson is a rapist who’s completely at it, I don’t think they’re a genuine trans woman, I think they’re trying to play the system.
‘What we should never do is because we have a despicable individual like Isla Bryson who plays the system, we shouldn’t roll back the rights of 99.9% of trans women who commit no crime whatsoever.’
Ms Regan resigned from the government last year over planned gender reforms, although Mr Yousaf – a former justice secretary when his rival was community safety minister – said he had no record of her raising an issue with the legislation before she resigned.
According to the former minister, she raised her concerns directly with the Cabinet Secretary responsible for the legislation.
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