Kenny MacAskill called it “utter b******s”, which is about the level of political sophistication I’ve come to expect from Alba. Police Scotland’s investigating allegations that the party fraudulently submitted nomination papers in local by-elections, and the response from leadership is somewhere between denial and panic.
Former general secretary Chris McEleny’s been dismissed. The party claims it couldn’t stand candidates without a nominating officer, but somehow it was standing candidates in by-elections anyway. That’s either incompetence or fraud, and neither looks good on a police report.
Electoral fraud under the Representation of the People Act 1983 is serious business. It’s not a parking ticket. If the allegations stick, people go to prison.
Financial Disaster
Alba’s in financial trouble deep enough that they might not contest the May election at all. MacAskill says the party’s in a “precarious position” due to “fraud perpetrated upon us”, which is an interesting way to describe internal management failure.
Four senior figures (Tommy Sheridan, Angus MacNeil, Christina Hendry, Suzanne Blackley) issued a joint statement, which is never a sign that things are going well. When your party’s response to a police investigation is a circular firing squad, you’re not exactly projecting competence.
I’ve got no sympathy. Alba’s entire political strategy has been performative grievance and internal drama since day one. Now the drama’s legal, and the grievance is with the Electoral Commission.
The Inevitable Collapse
This is what happens when you build a party on personality and protest instead of policy and organisation. Eventually the paperwork catches up with you, and it turns out you can’t bluster your way through police interviews.
MacAskill’s “utter b******s” quote will probably be the epitaph for the whole project. Alba had a chance to be a serious independence vehicle. Instead it’s become a case study in how to burn through political capital in record time.
If they survive to May, I’ll be surprised. If they survive this police investigation without charges, I’ll be astonished.