ALBA remain confident they can increase their vote share at the Holyrood election in 2026 despite the “devastating” death of leader Alex Salmond, their general secretary has said.
Prior to the sudden death of the former first minister at the Cultural Diplomacy Forum in Ohrid, North Macedonia, polls had suggested his Alba Party could secure several seats at the next Scottish Parliament election.
In June a poll from Norstat put support for the party at 5% in the regional vote, with Ballot Box Scotland (BBS) suggesting this could lead to a return of three MSPs.
BBS analysis of another Norstat survey in August predicted the party would take four seats.
Alba general secretary Chris McEleny said while Alba were going through a challenging period after losing Salmond, there is still belief they can build on positive signs prior to his death.
“We are positioned really well,” said McEleny.
“The entire point of starting Alba was that you see back in 2021 there was a direction of travel that people who have come across to vote SNP are going to start to get alienated and when that happens, they are going to turn back to what Alex called the Labour/Tory mediocrity.
“You have to be able to offer them another option so they can use their vote for a pro-independence party.
“Alba are confident of us growing our vote share and there’s a pretty clear direction of travel; the more Alba seats get elected, the more likely we’ll have a pro-independence majority in Parliament.
“None of that has changed, but then everything has changed [with Alex’s loss]. So how we adapt to that in the weeks and months to come, obviously our members – after they’ve had time to reflect on Alex’s life – will reflect on how we should honour his wishes and do what we think he would’ve intended.”
During Alba’s General Election campaign launch, Salmond made no secret of the fact that his main ambition was to secure seats in Holyrood via the regional list as part of his aspiration to see a pro-independence coalition formed in the chamber to progress the cause.
He had planned to run for election himself in the Banff and Buchan seat – the constituency he served at Westminster from 1987 to 2010 and at Holyrood from 1999 to 2001.
McEleny said the party still has the same vision of treating the Holyrood vote as the “independence election” and insisted there will be no bigger motivator for the leadership and members than ensuring they protect Salmond's legacy by building on what he started.
“We’re still the same party with the same vision and aspirations for making sure the next election has to be about independence,” he said.
“You’ve now got a Labour government and the first thing they’ve decided to do is attack pensioners.
“The grass is not greener on the other side of the Tory government. So you’ve got to say, how do you escape and make sure you don’t leave yourself vulnerable to the likes of poll taxes or bedroom taxes?
“Alex thought the answer to that was independence. So once we’ve had the time to get through this difficult period, there will be a point where we come together to say what our strategy is going forward.
“Alex’s loss is devastating for the party but I don’t think anything will motivate any of us more than now not wanting to let him down and wanting to make sure we protect his legacy and go on and deliver the success he was always certain would come."
