TOMMY Sheridan is set to rebrand his political party Solidarity as 'Hope Over Fear' at the forthcoming Holyrood election as he attempts a political comeback.
For months, the convicted perjurer has held rallies under the banner of Hope Over Fear, a pro-independence organisation he chairs but which claims to be “apolitical”.
Sheridan's Solidarity party has registered six variations of the phrase with the Electoral Commission for use on ballot papers next May.
One description omits the name Solidarity altogether and is simply “Hope Over Fear”.
Three other descriptions were also registered earlier this year: “Hope Over Fear - Solidarity”, “Solidarity - Hope Over Fear” and “Hope Over Fear - Solidarity Scotland”.
Two more were registered last month: “Hope Over Fear - Tommy Sheridan - Solidarity” and “Tommy Sheridan - Solidarity - Hope Over Fear”.
The Commission said the changes were authorised by Sheridan as Solidarity leader, treasurer Gordon Morgan and senior official John Park.
Colin Fox, co-convener of the Scottish Socialists and part of the RISE left-wing coalition for 2016, said: “This shows Hope Over fear was never apolitical, and brings you back to the great truth about Tommy Sheridan, which is that he can’t distinguish between facts and lies.
“Hope Over Fear was an artificial construct for him to try and resuscitate what’s left of his political career and that’s now been exposed. It also sounds a death knell for Solidarity. What is Solidarity’s purpose if they register under other names to promote Tommy Sheridan?”
Under electoral law, parties are allowed to register and protect 12 descriptions as optional names for use next to candidate names on ballots.
Sheridan has used the option in the past, registering “Solidarity Scotland's Socialist Movement (Tommy Sheridan)” and “Solidarity - Tommy Sheridan”.
Hope Over Fear (HOF) says it is a grassroots movement which evolved from Sheridan’s national tour to promote independence.
It claims to be willing to work with anyone “regardless of political persuasion”, and has previously tried to attract SNP politicians to events.
However Solidarity’s registration of the phrase for voting purposes points to HOF being part of Sheridan’s ambition to return as an MSP.
The 51-year-old is standing on the Glasgow regional list, just five years after he was jailed for lying in court about attending a sex club.
Morgan last night insisted HOF and Solidarity were organisationally and financially separate.
However he said it was not clear which name would feature on ballots in 2016.
Asked if Solidarity would appear at all, he said: “I don’t know. It depends what people decide. We registered the names because we were not sure how things were going to go.”
Sheridan was a Glasgow list MSP from 1999 to 2007, first for the Scottish Socialists and then, after the party split in 2006, for Solidarity.
Nicola Sturgeon recently ruled out sharing a platform with him, saying “women in particular” found it hard to forget his behaviour.
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