2016: A Branch activist urged the SNP leadership to reverse the ill conceived and damaging changes to the Party Structure writing:
“I believe we need to refocus our basic unit “at the party branch” to include much more political discussion and action. We need to spend money on professional organisers ”at HQ and in a regional network” to support branch activities and members training. We need to bring together all our elected representatives ”MPs, MSPs and Councillors” in coherent teams providing political leadership to our communities. We need to rethink how we make policy ”involving as many members as possible in a continuous process”.
This is the SNP Achilles’ heal, the crux of the SNP’s inability to retain politically minded members who have either left the party or have become dormant members frustrated that their branch activity fails to engage in the political process failing to debate issues and consequently failing to prepare a stream of well informed future talent.
My own Branch experience is that cliques have often prevented or discouraged newer members from gaining office bearer roles and these new members are perceived as a threat to the Branch, rather than being accepted as a positive result of YES activity and warmly welcomed their new post. 2014 Indy ideas are not reflected in branch meetings or agendas. Active when electioneering yet stagnant in between. This is a serious flaw and it impedes progress nationally to win wider support for the Independence cause. The SNP structures of old failed to win in 2014 and there needs to be changes if Independence is to be won.
Comment:
But Sturgeon chose another path: Her chosen one as Deputy Leader was acolyte Angus Robertson whose, “modus operandi” favoured centralised control castrating the membership rendring it incapable of festering disloyalty and creating unwanted problems for the leadership.
His views prevailed and he was appointed unchallenged to the post of Deputy leader. From then on all Party activities would be managed through headquarters and information drip fed to the plebs. Its termed “mushroom management.”
Sturgeon and Robertson’s leadership and ruthless control of the Party’s membership (unchanged under Yousaf and Swinney) created apathy in the branches and provided the leadership with the opportunity to transfer all powers from the body corporate to a small sycophantic group of WOKE driven individuals who, over a period of 10 years destroyed the Party
Jonathon Shafi mapped the influence of the corporate lobby in the governance of Scotland. An elaborate picture which makes for a disturbing read. It’s time for a change of Party leadership and direction.
(https://www.conter.scot/2022/8/5/how-snp-sold-scotland-to-corporate-profiteers/)
caltonjock 