'Personality cult' of Nicola Sturgeon to blame for SNP implosion claims ex-MP in blistering attack

A high-ranking ex-SNP MP has blamed the “personality cult” of Nicola Sturgeon for the party’s disastrous implosion and called First Minister John Swinney a puppet who should resign.

In an unprecedented attack, Angus MacNeil, who was the Western Isles MP for 19 years before losing his seat in Thursday’s poll, branded the leadership “fools” and “enablers”.

He and other senior politicians have told the Sunday Mail that the SNP is now engaged in a full-on civil war, with bitter infighting and recriminations about who or what is to blame for their 38-seat election loss.

McNeil said: “People have been too scared to speak out against the likes of Sturgeon, John Swinney, Mike Russell and Ian Blackford, and now they are at a dead end.

“It’s time for the pettiness to leave the SNP leadership. That pettiness was brought in by Nicola Sturgeon, who couldn’t cope with a different opinion or learn from another opinion or change her opinion.

“You are only going to be able to discuss routes to independence when Scotland is being well managed with good policies, and the problem is we have had neither.

“Saying I told you so doesn’t give me any pleasure because we still have the same fools in charge.

“The personality cult of Nicola Sturgeon needs to end - people saying ‘I’m with Nicola’, the SNP was allowed to become a group to follow Nicola.

“They suspended their critical faculties and it is time now to go back to reason and good arguments and sound thought and make up policies that way, rather than doing whatever pops into Nicola Sturgeon’s head.

“For John Swinney he is continuing Nicola’s same petty personal squabbles with people like Alex Salmond and countries don’t become independent when run by people entertaining petty personal squabbles.

“You need to be able to put these things aside, but as long as he is having his strings pulled by Sturgeon that is not going to happen. The best thing he can do for the SNP is get off the scene.

“People are fooling themselves if they think that the corner is going to be turned when the party is still being controlled by this group and their enablers - but you have MPs and MSPs who seem unable to think for themselves.”

MacNeil first entered parliament in 2005 and rose to prominence when he highlighted the cash for peerages scandal during Tony Blair’s New Labour years. He went on to chair the International Trade Select Committee and Energy Security Committee before being expelled by the SNP in August 2023 after repeatedly speaking out against the leadership.

MacNeil, who lost his seat to Labour after running as an independent, is furious over the failed strategy for achieving independence and never ending policy blunders.

Describing an incident when he had questioned Sturgeon’s strategy in a meeting with fellow MPs, MacNeil said: “We were discussing a route to an early Holyrood election. I asked if we should get a legal opinion to get all the facts and she screeched literally and said I don’t need a legal opinion for a political position.

“People like me don’t care if folk screech, but other people are cowed by being screeched at by someone who they perceive as having authority over them and that is what the other MPs did. They shut up.

“It wasn’t so much Bravehearts as heads under desks and please don’t look at me Nicola.”

Several sources have described how the SNP has now descended into a vicious blame game as sacked MPs are already eyeing up seats at Holyrood in 2026, much to the fury of the backbench MSPs.

And disillusioned SNP staffers are likely to face redundancy as officials grapple with a £1million a year loss of public funding.

Sources have said battle lines are being drawn between a wing loyal to Nicola Sturgeon and those who believe she is responsible for the party’s downfall.

One MSP said: “It is a very unhappy ship at the moment and things are going to get much worse.

“You have 38 MPs who have lost their jobs and many will be desperate to get into Holyrood as MSPs at the next election where the party leadership has significant control over the placement of names on regional lists.

“You can just imagine the bloodbath when these decisions come into play and obviously people want their faction to be in control of the party.

“There are many people who have until now been loyal to Sturgeon and her camp, now led by Swinney, who are waking up to the unmitigated disaster she has left in her wake.”

On top of the political infighting the SNP is facing serious financial problems which will likely mean loyal staff losing their jobs.

The nationalists are set to lose around £950,343.13 of public funding due to losing dozens of MPs and half a million votes.

It comes as major donations have dried up and membership money has dwindled in the face of an ongoing legal issues.

A police investigation into the SNP’s finances surrounds £600,000 of missing cash which was crowdfunded for a second independence referendum.

Former chief executive and Nicola Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell was charged with embezzlement earlier this year.

Sturgeon and ex-treasurer Colin Beattie were arrested last year and interviewed as suspects before being released without charge. Inquiries continue.

Another SNP MSP said: “I don’t think anyone still believes that Nicola doesn’t have to take a big portion of the blame for the downturn in the party’s fortunes, things are bad and it is difficult to see a silver lining at this point.

“We now have another election at Holyrood in just two years time and unless things change quickly it is going to be another utter humiliation.”

An SNP spokeswoman said: “As the First Minister has made clear, the SNP is focussed on rebuilding trust with the people of Scotland by delivering on the issues that matter to them.”

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