Is Nicola Sturgeon leaving the SNP for the Greens?

But Ms Sturgeon, who left the Scottish Parliament in May, continued her scrutiny of the SNP by praising the Scottish Greens – co-led by Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay – for standing up for the issues they believed in.

Ms Sturgeon and Mr Greer formed a strong bond during the Bute House Agreement – the power-sharing deal that saw the Greens enter government alongside the SNP in 2021.

Her comments have led veterans within the SNP to question whether she has switched allegiances to the Scottish Greens.

The SNP won a historic fifth Holyrood term in May, but fell short of a majority on 58 seats, while the Scottish Greens witnessed a surge in support, electing 15 MSPs despite standing in just six constituencies.

Ms Sturgeon described the Holyrood election as a “triumph” for her party but warned there were lessons that Mr Swinney must “heed”.

She said there had been commentary about the SNP being lucky that Reform UK split the pro-union vote.

But she said the luck the SNP enjoyed was that the Scottish Greens only stood in six of the 73 constituencies.

“It was the Scottish Greens, who, in my view, came closest to injecting a sense of hope for the future into the campaign," she said.

She said she did not agree with the Greens on every issue, but she praised them for their ability to stand up for what they believe in on “deeply controversial” issues.

She wrote: “They don’t cower in the face of pressure from the right-wing media or corporate vested interests. And I think that wins respect, even from people who don’t support them.”

She addressed many young, left-leaning voters leaving the SNP for the Scottish Greens, warning Mr Swinney’s party faces an “electoral blunder” if it softened its environmental policies.

Ms Sturgeon accused the SNP of failing to “bring alive” the opportunities that Scottish independence offers to people.

She said there was a “lack of vision or big-picture thinking” from the SNP in the recent election campaign.

Education Secretary Mairi McAllan – a former special advisor to Ms Sturgeon – described the criticism as “nonsense” in an interview with BBC Radio Scotland’s breakfast programme on Tuesday.

Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon with John Swinney (Image: PA)

She said: “It was a historic election result for the SNP, the largest ever gap, if I remember correctly, between us and those who came into second place, so I was really proud to stand in that election alongside John Swinney on a positive future for our country, on always standing up for Scotland.”

And Health Secretary Angela Constance said Ms Sturgeon’s attacks were “wrong” as she declared Mr Swinney as the best first minister yet.

Former SNP minister Alex Neil told the Daily Record he believed Ms Sturgeon was “more in line with the Green party on all issues than she is with the SNP”.

Ms Sturgeon said she will “never seek a return to elected politics” but insisted she will not be “silent” on issues that matter to her.

She said hard-won rights for women, LGBT+ communities and ethnic minorities were “under pressure” and, in some cases, being “pushed into reverse”.

The former first minister also said there was “disillusionment” and trust in democracy had been “stoked deliberately by a breed of populist politicians”.

In her foreword, Ms Sturgeon also appealed to Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats to work with the SNP in spite of their disagreements on Scottish independence following the rise of Reform UK.

She said: “No matter how important it is in a democracy to debate these robustly – we also need, at this moment in history, to cross party lines on occasion, to work together to protect the democratic principles which unite us. That is not comfortable territory for politicians, but it is vital.”

She said that, in the face of the challenge posed by Reform UK in Holyrood, politicians had to put their disagreements on independence on hold and “cross the dividing line” on policies like immigration.