The First Minister John Swinney has called on voters to “make independence a reality at the 2026 election” following an internal party split over independence strategy.
Speaking to the Director of the Enlighten think tank, Mr Swinney denied that his current independence strategy of returning a majority at the 2026 election is unrealistic.
The SNP leader insisted he had “gotten the SNP back to leading commandingly in the opinion polls”.
He told those attending the event hosted by Enlighten and Charlotte Street Partners: “I’m simply saying that in 2011 when the SNP won a majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament that led to a referendum in 2014.
“And that precedent is one that we want independence to happen on.”
The First Minister's comments come after a group of SNP activists recently accused the party of “ignoring the internal democracy”.
Their frustration was a result of party officials refusing to table a proposal for an alternative independence strategy at the next party conference in October.
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The proposal asked the party to “prioritise obtaining a mandate from the sovereign Scottish people to deliver independence.”
It said: “This will be possible by achieving a majority of the popular vote on the sum of the Independence Supporting Parties’ List Votes in the 2026 Scottish parliamentary election."
Despite being supported by 43 local party branches, it was blocked by the SNP's conferences committee from the party's draft agenda for the annual conference taking place in October.
Speaking to STV News on Monday, Mr Swinney said of the alternative plan “I don't agree with it and I don't think it will work
“We had that in 2016 and 2021 and it didn't break the log jam and the issue is having a route which results in Scotland becoming independent.”
At the event today, Mr Swinney said supporters had to consider the current level of support for independence in the country.
He said: “I’m simply saying to people in Scotland, 'If the issues you are concerned about: your energy costs, the existence of child poverty, or the challenges we face about business activity, if you want to fix those things then independence is the way to do that but you have to give me the authority to do that.'
“So I appeal to those 52-54% of people who believe in independence: make this a priority at the 2026 election and we can make this a reality."
The SNP leader added: “In January of 2010 we were miles behind in the opinion polls of an overall majority. Today, nine months out from the election we are ahead in the opinion polls.
“When I took over as SNP leader, we were behind in the opinion polls and no one gave us a chance of survival. I’ve got the SNP back in to lead commandingly in the opinion polls.
“But that’s not good enough for me…I’ve set out what we’ve got to do to take the party to win Scottish independence and I am going to give it every single fibre of my being between now and the election to make sure it happens.”
