Spain had the "Caudillo". Italy had "Il Duce". Is Chris McEleny planning to set himself up as the "Primus" of a new Alba Party (Continuity Salmondite)?

A number of seasoned McEleny Watchers set up a quiet vigil yesterday to try to pinpoint the exact moment that the great man gave in to the inevitable and altered his Twitter profile to acknowledge that he is no longer General Secretary of the Alba Party.  That's now happened, but perhaps more significant than the timing is what he's replaced the old wording with - 

"Chris McEleny.  General Secretary Primus of Alex Salmond’s Alba Party."

"Primus" of course means "first", so this could just be a particularly ungracious way of acknowledging that there is now a second General Secretary and it's not him.  Alternatively, he could be drawing a distinction between what he sees as "Real Alba" or "Salmondite Alba" and the version of the party that he regards as having been overrun by interlopers (you know, interlopers such as Moira Salmond).  Perhaps in some strange, metaphysical, almost 'telepathic' way, he regards himself as *still* the General Secretary of the Alba Party, authentic Alba, Salmond Alba.

Maybe this novel distinction will even become formalised, and an "Alba Party (Continuity Salmondite)" will soon be registered with the Electoral Commission, and with one Christopher McEleny listed as the party's "Primus".  Such fascist-sounding titles are perhaps not quite as outlandish as they sound given the ongoing flirtaton between McEleny's faction and Reform UK.  I know some Alba members were determined to believe yesterday that Sky had stitched up Ash Regan, but actually if you watch the video of her comments in their proper context, it's obvious that they were permeditated, well-rehearsed, and carefully calculated to generate an "I will work with Farage" headline.  The intention seems to be to get Reform voters, or Reform-curious voters, to look at Alba afresh and realise that it's the one party that doesn't sneer at the far right or its values.  If this was Germany, Alba would look very much like the guilty party that has "broken the firewall".

Contrary to the perceptions of some, there are quite a number of old school socialists within Alba, and they are absolutely furious with Ash Regan for what she did yesterday.  But admittedly there are also other Alba members who have some growing sympathy with Donald Trump because of his stance on protecting women's spaces and women's sport, and who see Regan's comments as a welcome recognition that left/right distinctions are becoming less useful.  That cultural divide within the party is arguably unbridgeable - and it occurs to me that Ash Regan can count, that she must know Kenny MacAskill is going to defeat her for the leadership, and that her flirtation with Reform is therefore going to make it hard for her to play a prominent role in a MacAskill-led party.  So why is she doubling down and making the rift even worse?  

I still can't escape the conclusion that she's looking beyond her time in Alba and is preparing the ground for when she and McEleny strike out on their own in some form.