ASH Regan has claimed her resignation from the SNP brought down Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell.
The sole Alba MSP – who is the party’s leader in Holyrood – defected from the SNP to Alba in 2023.
Speaking to the Daily Record, Regan (below) said: “I would argue that my resignation from government was the beginning of the end for Nicola Sturgeon’s reign.”
Asked if her resignation was the turning point for Sturgeon, she said: “Absolutely. She only lasted another four months after that. I resigned at the end of October and she announced her intention to go by mid-February.”
Regan stood against Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes in the SNP leadership contest which was triggered by Sturgeon’s resignation in February 2023.
During her campaign, she spoke about the importance of transparency over party membership numbers. Murrell was the SNP’s chief executive at the time and resigned in March 2023.
“I effectively removed Murrell from SNP HQ during that contest because of my interest in transparency and my interest in making sure we knew what the level of membership was in the party,” Regan said.
She added: “I also got rid of the Greens from Government.”
She claimed that the Bute House Agreement was axed after her decision to table a motion of no confidence in Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie when she was a minister.
The motion came after Harvie gave an interview in which he said he disagreed with the findings of the Cass Review into transgender care for young people.
Regan said her intervention led to a “cascade of events” ending with Humza Yousaf ending the Bute House Agreement with the Greens.
The Alba MSP is currently contesting the Alba leadership against Kenny MacAskill (below) after Alex Salmond died of a heart attack in North Macedonia in October.
Putting her case forward to the membership, she said being Alba’s only parliamentarian would be an advantage as leader.
She said that MacAskill found it hard to “cut through” when he was an MP, adding: “If you are in the Scottish Parliament, you have the ability to set the political weather.
“It’s almost impossible to do that if you are not elected. You do not have that platform and you are not in the Scottish Parliament.”
An SNP source told the Daily Record that Regan's comments on bringing down Sturgeon and Murrell were "delusional".
