1 hour ago
1
BBC
Kenny Macaskill became the Alba Party leader in March 2025
The Alba Party is unlikely to contest the Holyrood election in May due to its "perilous financial position", its leader has confirmed.
In an email seen by BBC Scotland News, Kenny MacAskill said the party faced an "immediate crisis" and it was unlikely it would be able to register for the Scottish Parliament election.
The former SNP justice secretary added: "That brings also into question the viability of a party which neither has financial resource nor the ability to contest elections."
MacAskill said he would provide an update on the party's situation in the coming days.
Alba was launched by former SNP leader Alex Salmond in March 2021.
The ex-first minister said the aim was to build "a supermajority for independence" at Holyrood after the election that May.
Within days of two SNP MPs, Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey, defected from the SNP to join the new party.
But Alba failed to win any seats and only polled 1.7% of the regional vote.
The sudden death of Salmond in October 2024 triggered a leadership contest in which MacAskill defeated former SNP leadership contender Ash Regan.
It followed a row between the party and its former general secretary, Chris McEleny, who was dismissed early last year after initially being suspended for alleged gross misconduct.
In an email to party members on Saturday, MacAskill said that he expected "matters to progress further shortly".
He added: "I can assure you of integrity of current staff and elected office bearers but neither that nor justice being done addresses the perilous financial position which we find ourselves in as a result."
A source close to McEleny previously said he was pursuing a case for unfair dismissal by the party through an employment tribunal.
At the time, the source said he was "bitterly disappointed about any suggestion that Alex Salmond was complicit in not being fully aware of how his political party was being run."
Alba candidate Christina Hendry, a niece of Salmond, said she was "frustrated" by the announcement.
She added: "The decision to de-register the party should not rest with a handful of members in the leadership team, some of whom have no electoral mandate. It belongs to you, the entire Alba Party membership.
"I am not prepared to stand by and watch my uncle's legacy discarded and the cause of independence abandoned.
"This party belongs to the members, and it is up to the members to take it forward."
