THE list of nominations for the SNP’s internal elections for office bearers shows key positions will be unopposed this year, the Sunday National can reveal.
Michael Russell is the only nomination listed for the SNP president, meaning he will continue in the post that he has held since 2020.
The position of treasurer, held by Colin Beattie, and policy development convener, Toni Giugliano, are also uncontested for the elections which will take place during the party conference in October.
Office bearer positions which have a number of candidates include national secretary, which has four nominations – Qasim Hanif, Chris Hanlon and Josh Mennie along with current holder Lorna Finn.
Five nominations have been made for the position of member support convener, with four for both organisation convener and BAME convener.
The women’s convener position has two nominations – Marion Richardson and Julia Stachurska, while Summer Chen and Kirsteen Fraser are contending for equalities convener.
Russell became president of the SNP in 2020, beating rival bids from former ambassador Craig Murray and ex-MP Corri Wilson.
The role is traditionally an honorary one, with the party’s constitution stating that it is a position elected for distinguished service to the party and not an executive post.
The former Scottish Brexit secretary continued uncontested in the position last year after a supposed challenger pulled out of the contest, saying he had entered it inadvertently.
At the time, Graeme McCormick, a retired solicitor and a board member of Business for Scotland, said he was surprised when he saw his name on the list of candidates for party president as he had not intended to throw his hat into the ring.
“I don’t know how it happened,” McCormick said.
“If I completed the form inaccurately, then I may well have inadvertently ticked the box [for President] and as soon as it was brought to my notice I withdrew my name from the contest.”
Beattie returned to the role of national treasurer in June last year, after being ousted from the role which he had held since 2004 at the party’s conference in 2020.
He took up the post again after replacement Douglas Chapman quit saying he was not given enough information to do the job, amid a row over party finances and questions on the whereabouts of £600,000 raised by activists for a second independence referendum.
Giugliano, who was elected last year, tweeted: “I gather I’m standing unopposed to be the SNP policy development convener for [a] second year.
“Hugely grateful to members for their backing, particularly the PDC [policy development committee] who’ve done a power of work on resolutions and strengthening internal democracy.”
The SNP conference is being held in Aberdeen from October 8-10 and will be the first in-person conference held by the party since 2019. The 2020 and 2021 conferences took place online as the Covid pandemic disrupted many large gatherings.
Members have voted on the resolutions which they would like to see debated, with the final agenda for the conference due to be published this Friday.
