Kevin McKenna meets Mhairi Hunter to discuss her plans for the future

A source at the City Chambers described her to me using words such as “stalwart” and “formidable” and “no-nonsense”. But also hard-working, committed and real. On that sclerotic social media platform (now known as X) she sallies into battle daily to engage with a growing band of critics, both inside and out the SNP. She’s an arch-defender of the party’s official line on everything, for which she attracts a disproportionate measure of opprobrium and outright abuse.

Yet, unlike many of the SNP’s highly-paid professional wing, she does so with a touch of class and no little elegance. Another activist, and one who fundamentally disagrees with Ms Hunter “on just about everything” says that she would be an asset to the SNP at Holyrood.

At the 2021 Council elections, she lost her Southside Central seat after being squeezed out by a combination of Green and Alba performing better than expected. She said then: “Well I didn't expect today to go like this. A combination of Green and Alba votes leaves me no longer a councillor. Pretty ironic really. Still, more time to campaign for independence.”

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Her response was described as lacking in class by some right-wing commentators, but it wasn’t really. 

Ms Hunter, you see, is a staunch defender of transgender rights and backs the official Scottish government positon on permitting self-ID. Yet, she does so far more eloquently and persuasively than some of those stealing a wage at Holyrood.

She’s also known to be a “key ally” of Nicola Sturgeon whose Glasgow Southside Holyrood constituency includes Ms Hunter’s old Council patch. Yet, she’s more than a key ally. The two are known to be close personal friends, dating from well before Ms Sturgeon’s meteoric rise through the stations of national government. They also shared the same constituency office in Govanhill. As such, Ms Hunter’s 2021 setback provided further means for her detractors to rejoice.

Yet, there she is, several times a week posting pictures on social media of her and a small band of supporters knocking the doors; pushing the leaflets; soliciting support for the party she no longer represents. It’s a rebuke to me and others who have often accused the Sturgeonistas of lacking focus and commitment to the cause of independence.

Her late mum, Allison Hunter, is considered blessed among the pantheon of SNP legends. She was the party’s National Organiser and is universally credited with establishing the successful campaigning template on which the SNP’s successes over the last 16 years has been founded. 

“Look, in politics nothing is certain,” her daughter says. “People are always looking for guaranteed outcomes but you just can’t get that. My feeling is that we must continue to keep the pressure on and we do that by getting round the doors as often as possible. If you want independence you need to vote for us.”

She says she’s a gradualist and I try to point out that there’s a difference between gradual and glacial. She ignores the barb and fixes me with a stare.

Would she like to return to front-line politics? And, given her experience and high regard within the party, could that mean aiming for a seat at Holyrood?

“I have no fixed plans for the immediate future,” she says. “I had care responsibilities for my dad for 10 years and then when my sister became very ill. So, this is the first time I’ve had some time to think. I’d certainly stand again for the Council and I’d certainly consider standing for a Holyrood seat.

“Right now though, our priority is on the next Westminster election. But I’m certainly thinking about Holyrood.”

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We meet in a café called Mi Chaii on Victoria Road. It’s a district close to my heart, having lived there for a few years in the late 1980s. Several years ago, when I wrote about the campaign being directed at the Roma Community who had settled in this area, Ms Hunter was very helpful in providing local knowledge and a list of contacts happy to speak on the record. We disagree fundamentally on many areas of SNP policy, but journalists tend to remember old favours.

Much of the baiting of the Roma and other ethnic communities around here was rooted in a desire to damage Nicola Sturgeon, even though she had no influence on matters pertaining to the local authority. Much of it also seemed to be driven by a UK national newspaper which had become obsessed with the supposed behaviour of Roma families.

“The situation around the Roma and what they were being accused of is getting a lot better,” she says. “But for a while it was unbelievably poisonous. Those stories, saying that parents were sending their children into slavery, were so irresponsible. Would this have happened if it hadn’t been Nicola’s constituency?

“I actually think Govanhill has been a great example of making integration work. I’m really proud of this community. It can show the world that you can have a successful vibrant multicultural community in which people really care about each other across ethnic divides.

“I tell people that this is a brilliant place. And they say ‘really’? And that’s coming from what they’re read. It’s not based on lived experience here.”

We discuss the gnarly transgender issue. You can’t not. Has it damaged the SNP, I ask. On refection, should they have been more accommodating of some amendments to the GRR Bill around protecting women’s protected spaces?

“I don’t think it has split the party as much as some would have you believe,” she says. “Of course it’s a difficult issue, but I’m actually proud of the way we managed that debate. I think there were some really good speeches on either side and some really good joint working.

“It’s such a polarising issue that ultimately, you’re never going to be able to bring people with opposing views together on it. But I think they did their best to get a just outcome. I appreciate some people have very, very strong views about it, but I also think that it’s a fairly small minority. It’s not something that gets raised when you’re out canvassing.

“Much as I am very strongly on one side of this argument I do also absolutely recognise that people have a right to say that they don’t agree with me on this. And I don’t think they should be called bigots just because they have concerns or questions.” If Ms Hunter does reach Holyrood, she could start off by telling some of her new colleagues that.

She also believes the UK Government’s challenge to Holyrood’s GRR Bill is dishonest. “They’re seeking intentionally to weaponise it as part of a wider culture war. Can we stop it escalating? Perhaps, but I really don’t have the answer to it.”

And I’ve got to ask: “Are the Greens wagging the fog, Mhairi? “Oh come on,” she says. “Right now, pretty much everyone is struggling to pay their bills. This isn’t coming up on the doorsteps. It’s silly season stuff. I think the vast majority of members are fine with our arrangement with The Greens the way it is. But fair enough: you all have your pages to fill.” That’ll be me tellt then.

Afterwards, we discuss the situation surrounding her friend, Nicola. Her loyalty remains unshakeable. “It’s not the best of times right now for the party,” she says.

Like other SNP loyalists, she’s been subject to criticism for being too steadfast in her devotion to the party. She’s having none of it, though. “We are members of a party. It’s a basic requirement. What do you want us to say?

“And besides, we’ve been through worse times than this. A real difficulty is that there’s stuff going on which is completely outwith our control.

“When I first joined, we were just delighted to get into double figures. There has to be a degree of perspective. But you know what, I kind of welcome the fact we’re back in a fight. You can’t stay on top for ever. That never lasts. And I enjoy the fight. It feels more natural.”