The beam on Kate Forbes’ face was quite something.
She’d clearly been exhausted by the contest some time ago, and must have been dreading winning and having to continue fighting the assault from within her own party. Her evident delight and relief at her own failure was a revealing moment.
The great unknown in this election was just who the SNP membership was. No poll could tell us, and with over 50,000 people having quit the party in the last three years, nobody knew who was left. But we know now: idiots.
Today is the last day of Nicola Sturgeon’s record-breaking reign as First Minister of Scotland. In a few hours we’ll know who is to succeed her in the role. She was only the second SNP occupant of Bute House, and the legacy she bequeaths compared to the one she inherited from Alex Salmond is a matter of measureable record.
This is the second time Wings Over Scotland has asked Police Scotland a question through the proper official channels, only to read the response in the tabloid press before we’d heard it firsthand (which we still haven’t, incidentally, several days after the 28-day deadline expired).
But the sidebar piece in today’s Sunday Mail raises more questions than it answers.
We’ve been thinking about it since last night, and we’re not sure if Humza Yousaf now still has ANY of the policies he started the leadership election with.
But this one‘s got us extra-specially perplexed, since at the start it was pretty much the main unique selling point he was hanging his whole campaign on.
According to SNP President and acting CEO Mike Russell, SNP members are too thick to understand the concept of changing their vote, and integrity is “disruptive”.
We’re not very clear on why a revote would be susceptible to “hacking” in any way that the original vote isn’t, but we’re sure there’s a great explanation.
There can surely be no credible disputing that the SNP leadership election – and therefore that of Scotland’s next First Minister – is, to put it very mildly, under a cloud.
As things stand, whoever wins will be forever tainted by the process – easy meat for the Unionist opposition in the Holyrood chamber and the media and a potential legal challenge could cause untold further damage to the party.
With six days still left for voting, the case for a reballot – an administratively fairly trivial task in an election being conducted almost entirely online – is now unanswerable, and needn’t even involve a delay.
The SNP having a fondness for lying about their membership wouldn’t have come as quite such a shock to the Scottish press if they paid a little more attention to this website. Because we were pointing it out two and a half years ago.
It was in October 2020 that we told you how the SNP’s 2019 accounts revealed the party’s true membership figures weren’t the claimed 126,000 but more like 87,000.
You might think that Scottish political journalists would all be in a shark-like frenzy of excitement at the events of the last few days. But not over on The Guardian.
Apparently it’s all a bit too much for the delicate wee flowers.
We’ve just been leaked this footage, apparently taken by an alert traveller, of Nicola Sturgeon at Edinburgh Airport, reacting badly to receiving news that Peter Murrell has been “unavoidably detained” and won’t be making their rendezvous to Rio.
Alf Baird on Scotland’s Most Frightened: ““Surely, for the colonised, it is always “our” government?” Not so. Since annexation in 1707 Scots remain subject only to…” Mar 5, 23:19
Northcode on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Interesting, Fearghas, but I’m afraid I no longer trust Alba – I’m not entirely sure I ever did. The refusal…” Mar 5, 22:22
Northcode on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “I have an urge to scribble doun some Scots words and post them to this place: Tho we hamespun Scottis…” Mar 5, 21:47
Northcode on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “To compare colonisation wth immigration is a false equivalence. Here is a modern definition of colonialism: ” [colonialism] depends first…” Mar 5, 21:21
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “ALBA CONTINUATION GROUP WELCOMES MACASKILL’S POSITIVE ENGAGEMENT PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release Alba Continuation Group Welcomes MacAskill Engagement as Members…” Mar 5, 20:15
Hatey McHateface on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Excellent points, Lorncal. Both gender woowoo and multiculturalism have another thing in common – we, the people, were never asked…” Mar 5, 18:49
Lorncal on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “H McH: the thing about decolonisation is that it rarely turns out the way you thought it might before you…” Mar 5, 18:19
Young Lochinvar on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “So very New Testament of you HMcH It’s much older; Lilith then Cain kicked it all off for the Abrahamics..” Mar 5, 17:51
Mark Beggan on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “When the Eagle soars and the Lion roars the world stands still. America is waiting.” Mar 5, 17:38
Hatey McHateface on Scotland’s Most Frightened: ““Be more like Spain” In early 2026, Spain agreed to unilaterally grant legal residence and work permits to approximately 500,000…” Mar 5, 17:12
Hatey McHateface on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Did you hear that on the street like yesterday? Crivens. Fit an interesting street ye hing oot oan!” Mar 5, 17:03
Hatey McHateface on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Surely, for the colonised, it is always “our” government? It’s the post colonised for whom it isn’t. I don’t have…” Mar 5, 16:58
Mark Beggan on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “I thought you would still be mourning the elimination of the father of post colonial theocracy. From my reckoning you…” Mar 5, 16:50
Fordy on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Been saying that since Sturgeon was first minister all the faux grievances with Westminster is just to keep the sheep…” Mar 5, 16:24
Alf Baird on Scotland’s Most Frightened: ““our government” ? For the colonized it is never ‘our’ government.” Mar 5, 15:48
Geri on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “The English keep voting for these parasites. They’re lazy, they don’t even get off their arse & threaten to physically…” Mar 5, 15:31
Geri on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Last I heard it’s basically over for the yanks. Iran sent a £600 drone that bypassed the American billion dollar,…” Mar 5, 15:17
Hatey McHateface on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “MSM reporting the Home Secretary wants to sub asylum seeker families to the tune of £40,000 to sling their hooks.…” Mar 5, 14:50
Hatey McHateface on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Isn’t that a Catholic thing? I don’t think they call it a shambles, though.” Mar 5, 14:42
Young Lochinvar on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Alf The impact of extended Scotchland Office lunch “hour” tea trolley duties away from the internet.. Quack quack 🙂” Mar 5, 14:37
Young Lochinvar on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “4 fighters to Qatar, 1 frigate to Cyprus (sometime), 2 helicopters to Cyprus and 1 charter repatriation flight (eventually).. World…” Mar 5, 14:32
Hatey McHateface on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Both poles of the Baird/Northy axis have been absent until today. So, little of worth that merited responding to. Can…” Mar 5, 14:28
Alf Baird on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Tut tut, only 13 out of 46 comments here for Hatety ower Scotland. Ye’ve drapped belaw yer usual 30%.” Mar 5, 13:54
Hatey McHateface on Scotland’s Most Frightened: ““The solution? STOP ILLEGALLY INVADING OTHER COUNTRIES. Simples” I find myself on the horns of a dilemma. Is it flattering…” Mar 5, 13:49
Hatey McHateface on Scotland’s Most Frightened: ““the current crop of politicians may not have the requisite skills & intelligence to handle” Maybe aye, maybe naw. I…” Mar 5, 13:35
Hatey McHateface on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “That so? These people sound like what we would call colonialists on here. Happy to be proved wrong. Maybe they’re…” Mar 5, 13:19
agentx on Scotland’s Most Frightened: ““Flight data shows that in the week leading up to the US and Israel’s attack on Iran, 24 US military…” Mar 5, 13:15
Hatey McHateface on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Wheesht, Northy, that carpet has been gnawed to threads. There’s a plush new carpet on the flair, 100% acrylic, with…” Mar 5, 13:14
Lorncal on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “John Swinney says he will hold another referendum only because he is sure that the SNP will not have a…” Mar 5, 13:14
