PETE Wishart has said the SNP made a mistake by not examining the reasons for Scotland voting No in 2014 as he welcomed Keith Brown’s announcement of an independence convention.
The SNP MP for Perth and Kinross-Shire was speaking at a fringe event about the launch of his new book on the 2014 referendum – Inside the Indyref.
He said that campaigning in the run-up to the vote in 2014 was the “most exciting time in my life,” joking that it was a “different experience” compared with performing Loch Lomond in front of thousands during his time in Runrig.
“None of us knew what would happen in the aftermath of the independence referendum,” the MP said.
“But I don’t think we sufficiently did the work, I don’t think we sat down properly to examine what happened, where it went wrong.”
Asked more specifically by host Lesley Riddoch if the party had made a “mistake in failing to examine the reasons for the loss, Wishart said: “I think on reflection, yes.”
He added that carrying out such work as this would have been “almost like doing the work when the sun shines, getting the roof fixed”.
Thinking about winning
Elsewhere, Wishart also admitted he had thought the Yes campaign might have won when a YouGov poll put Yes in the lead with just 12 days to go.
“For a few days after the opinion poll, I thought we might have won,” he said.
“Towards the last week though, no. Other than the day after that poll, that was the only time the bookies had us ahead, particularly going into the last week.
“I didn’t believe at the end. I remember going down to Westminster in the day after that poll and they were utterly spooked.
“You could tell there was panic, so they abandoned PMQs to come to Scotland. At that point I thought we had it but then there were further interventions which just changed things dramatically for us.”
Independence convention
During his speech to conference on Friday, the SNP’s depute leader Keith Brown (below) said the party will back an independence convention including all “democratically elected representatives” from Yes-supporting parties.
Brown said Yes support would need to be shown “through every democratic means available”.
Responding to the news, Wishart said he welcomed the idea but that “the opportunity must be extended based on mutual respect”.
“I’m really pleased we’re committed to the convention and it’s up to others to accept that invitation.”
🗣️ 'It's an opportunity for us all to reset' We spoke with SNP MP @PeteWishart about what he hopes to achieve with his new book looking back at the 2014 referendum pic.twitter.com/9Xjtl9xjTM
— The National (@ScotNational) September 1, 2024
On Alba specifically, Wishart commented: “They are a feature in Scottish politics and we cannot ignore that.
“They’re led by the guy that almost won the independence referendum, so we must accept that.”
He did concede however that the SNP’s relationship with the Scottish Greens is “badly frayed” after Humza Yousaf (below) ended the Bute House Agreement shortly before stepping down as first minister and SNP leader.
“We’ve got to try to do better about bringing people on board and we have a lot of work to do building relationships.
“This offer to all the other smaller parties, all the other groups is there but it has to be on the basis of mutual respect and trust, or it just won’t work.”
