KENNY MacAskill has claimed that Alba’s former leader Alex Salmond would have backed him to become his successor.
MacAskill and Ash Regan are currently the only two candidates to put themselves forward to be the next leader of Alba.
The former MP for East Lothian said he is “grateful” for the support of Salmond’s widow Moira and that he had “no doubts” the party’s former leader would have backed him too.
When asked by the Daily Record if his former boss would have supported him, MacAskill said: “Yes. Alex and I were close.
“I was there to support him and no doubt that would have been reciprocated.”
Moira Salmond said recently that MacAskill had her “support and endorsement” to which the former cabinet secretary for justice said he was “pleased” to have her backing.
He added: “Alex was a great friend, and she has suffered a grievous loss, given the length of marriage and time they spent together. She is a good woman and I am grateful for her support.”
MacAskill went on: “But this is the Alba party, not the Alex Salmond memorial party.”
Alba failed to return a single MSP four years ago at the Scottish Parliamentary elections.
However, MacAskill said the 2021 strategy of pro-independence voters backing the SNP on first-past-the-post constituency votes and Alba on the regional lists could be successful next year.
He added that the approach last time was marred by Nicola Sturgeon’s “obsession” with trying to thwart Salmond, as he added: “Alex was a formidable politician, probably arguably the greatest of his generation and indeed for generations beyond.
“The situation is this is Alex’s strategy. The difference is the context has changed.”
He said: “The logic of 2021 was correct. We go again in 2026.”
MacAskill said his “pitch” to be the next leader of Alba “is to deliver the dream and to continue building on Alex’s legacy”.
He added: “What I have the opportunity to do is reach out to the wider Yes movement through my broad links because at the end of the day what we have to do is galvanise the independence support.”
When asked about his former positive relationship with Sturgeon he said: “The SNP was very collegiate, the SNP that Alex Salmond built. We have to give him credit.
“That camaraderie has been lost and I hold Nicola responsible for that in terms of the actions she took.”
He also claimed the allegations against Salmond, which he was also cleared of in a criminal trial, amounted to a “stab in the back” and that he stands by the fact that it “was a conspiracy”.
