FORMER first minister Alex Salmond has said Scotland needs to get the “energy and aspiration” of the independence referendum back into its politics.
In an interview with broadcaster Matthew Stadlen, Salmond said the “worst" thing about the General Election was not that people voted for the Labour Party, but that many people didn’t vote at all, which he put down to too many of the electorate feeling a “lack of hope”.
According to the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank, just 52% of UK adults cast their ballots July 4, which is the lowest since the vote was extended to all adults over 21 in 1928.
Salmond said: “One thing that independence as a concept introduced to Scottish politics was hope. The nation felt better about moving in a direction.
“Even people that didn’t particularly like the idea of independence felt the energy and the aspiration and we’ve got to get that back.”
Salmond expressed particular disappointment about the turnout in the “Yes City” of Dundee, a nickname it received after Dundonians voted for independence in 2014 with a turnout of nearly 80%.
In the Dundee City constituency in the General Election, the turnout was a measly 52% - down almost 10% on 2019.
Salmond recalled speaking to a man who was queuing to register to vote a fortnight before the referendum in Dundee, having not been registered since the days of the poll tax.
The Alba leader said this was the type of energy that needed to be injected back into Scottish politics.
He said: “The worst thing about the recent election was not the folk voting for the Labour Party, the worst thing about the election was the people that didn’t vote.
“In the Yes city of Dundee, that symbolised the movement forward in 2014, the percentage turnout was 55%.
“That same city, when I campaigned in early September 2014, there was this massive queue of folk beside the statue of Desperate Dan. I asked the guy at the back of the queue what he was queuing for and he said ‘we’re queuing to vote’.
“I said ‘the referendum is two weeks away’ and he said ‘no no, we’ve got to get on the register today, to vote in two weeks’ time’.
“He said ‘listen I’ve not been on the register since the poll tax’. But he said ‘this is the first time there’s been something worth voting for’. That’s what we’ve got to get back.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Salmond spoke about the disintegration of his successor and former deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon.
When asked about what had gone wrong since the independence referendum and whether they could ever be friends again, he said: “I think there’s a lot of water under that bridge. I’m not certain that that’s going to be the rapprochement that’s necessary to bring the independence movement together.
“I thought resigning after the referendum was the right thing to do. I look back and I say ‘what on earth were you thinking?’ and ‘what an idiot’.”
