Why Kenny MacAskill has entered the race to succeed Alex Salmond as Alba leader

The former justice secretary will stand against Edinburgh Eastern MSP Ash Regan to take over leadership of the party.

Mr MacAskill has been the party’s interim leader since Mr Salmond’s death in October, and has been endorsed by Mr Salmond’s wife Moira.

Mr MacAskill said: “This is not a position which I ever sought, and it comes about through a tragedy I wish had never happened. But I believe it essential to maintain Alex’s legacy and to deliver his dream of Scottish independence.”

Mr MacAskill said the party should continue to support “radical” policies, adding: “We cannot allow a drift to the right or pursue a populist agenda pushed by wealthy oligarchs.”

He also said he would work to “ensure that Scotland benefits from the natural bounty it has with renewable energy”.

Mr MacAskill said if he wins the leadership election, he will use the 2026 Holyrood election to “drive” forward the case for independence. The former justice secretary defected from the SNP to Alba in 2021 while he was the MP for East Lothian.

He stood in last year’s general election for Alloa and Grangemouth, but came eighth behind Labour, the SNP, Reform UK, the Conservatives, the Greens, the Lib Dems and an independent candidate.

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A contest will now take place in the next few weeks and is expected to conclude before the party conference in March.

Mrs Salmond said her late husband would have wanted Mr MacAskill to succeed him as party leader.

She said: “Kenny was not just Alex’s political ally, but his friend. I know who Alex trusted and who he would want to continue to lead the party he established.”

Ms Regan previously told The Scotsman she had notified the party’s national executive committee of her intention to stand for party leader. She hopes she can lead Alba to an electoral breakthrough in the 2026 Holyrood elections.

Ms Regan previously stood for leader of the SNP in 2023, but came third behind former first minister Humza Yousaf and Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes. She defected to Alba later that year and is now the party’s only MSP in Holyrood.