ASH Regan’s campaign is reportedly speaking to lawyers about whether to obtain an interdict to pause the SNP leadership contest following several internal party rows.
The Herald has reported that discussions are ongoing between the Regan team and legal experts with a decision yet to be made regarding an interdict.
Advisors to Regan are weighing up the the move amid fears it would annoy SNP members who want to see the race completed according to schedule.
Voting opened on Monday and is due to continue until March 27. The winner is expected to be announced later that day.
When asked if the Regan campaign would be applying for a court interdict to pause the race, they said: "We have been speaking with our legal team. We are looking at all options. We are scoping out possibilities, all scenarios are being planned for.”
This comes after several concerns were brought up by Regan's team at a meeting with the head of the civil service in Scotland, Permanent Secretary John-Paul Marks, on Friday.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: "The Permanent Secretary has offered to meet with all three leadership candidates as part of the civil service's preparations to support the new First Minister."
At the meeting, they brought up their concerns over the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's closest aide Liz Lloyd, and her involvement in the contest.
Hours after the meeting, Lloyd announced she would be stepping down from her role when Sturgeon left office. She said that had been her intention since Sturgeon announced her resignation.
One source from the Regan campaign team said: "We don't know how long [Liz] has been involved,"
"It just adds to the pattern of behaviour at SNP HQ which we have difficulty trusting."
Hours after Lloyd’s announcement, Murray Foote, former editor of the Daily Record, announced he was leaving his role after being given incorrect SNP membership numbers to give to the media by party HQ.
The SNP released membership figures on Thursday, confirming that there are 72,186 paid-up members voting in the leadership contest.
This was a drop from 103,884 in 2021.
The team also referred to an issue at the start of the campaign where MSP Emma Harper used her SNP email to urge members to back Humza Yousaf. The source said the same privilege should have been afforded to the other candidates.
They added: "That was denied point blank when we asked. We asked the national secretary to remedy the situation by providing similar access and she said 'no we won't be doing that'. 'Emma has apologised and we are satisfied' [we were told]."
