The Alba Party in its "death throes": Kenny MacAskill sends out bizarre email admitting the party is mired in sleaze and scandal, but boasts "we're still solvent!"

The Alba Party have practically ceased to function as a political party, although one small thing that can still genuinely be said for them is that they perform one of the key functions that should really be performed by the media, ie. they semi-regularly commission voting intention polls and independence polls.  There have been previous instances of fringe parties becoming defunct and then rebranding as a discussion group or even as a newspaper, so when Alba give up the ghost perhaps they could rebrand as a polling company.  Slanszh Media seem to have finally called it a day with their little-watched weekly YouTube show Tas Is Still Talking, but perhaps a spin-off called Tas Has Started Polling would have some potential.  In the meantime, I will within the next few hours be manfully filling the gap in the market with a Scot Goes Pop video about the new Find Out Now / Alba poll on independence, which remarkably shows Yes ahead by 55% to 45%.

Meanwhile, Kenny MacAskill sent out a bizarre email today to all Alba members, one of whom was kind enough to forward it to me. It can be roughly summarised as: "we're mired in sleaze, but don't worry guys, we're still solvent".  Here are the highlights:

"We are writing to update you on a matter which has required referral to the appropriate authorities.

Last year, concerns regarding the management of the party led to a review of HQ operations and finances, instigated by Alex Salmond. During this period, a disciplinary process was concluded which resulted in the former General Secretary being dismissed for gross misconduct.

Subsequently, a number of internal financial and administrative irregularities came to light. In line with our legal and fiduciary responsibilities, these matters were examined in detail. Following that process the party formally reported the concerns to Police Scotland. As there is now a live police investigation, we are unable to comment further at this time.

We wish to reassure members that the party remains solvent, fully operational, and continues to be administered with integrity and probity by our serving staff and office bearers. The National Executive Committee has been kept informed throughout, and members in attendance at conference were updated in a closed session...

This is not the position any of us would have wished to be in ahead of a crucial election period. However, the matter is being handled correctly and rigorously, and our focus remains firmly on the future of the party...

We will continue to keep members informed as far as legally permissible...

Yours for Scotland, 

Kenny MacAskill"

I suspect a number of Alba members will have noted the glorious irony of Mr MacAskill talking about "continuing" to keep members informed, and then signing off with the words "Yours for Scotland", because it was a website called Yours For Scotland, along with blogs like Scot Goes Pop and Denise Findlay's, that Alba members had to turn to in order to find out what the hell was going on in their own party, because they certainly weren't being kept informed by the party itself.  For example, for several months this year, the only way that Alba members will have known that the expelled Chris McEleny was refusing to resign as the party's registered Nominating Officer, was by reading about it on Scot Goes Pop.  Mr MacAskill has yet again failed to front up about that issue (or even mention it at all) in today's email, even though in theory it could mean that the vengeance-hungry McEleny will block Alba from running any candidates at all in the Holyrood election.

Spare a thought for Tommy Sheridan, incidentally, who is the one remaining heavyweight figure hanging on for grim death inside Alba even though he must know by now that he's backed the wrong horse.  Craig Murray announced today that he was defecting from Alba to the Corbyn/Sultana party in the hope that he can help mould it into a pro-indy force, and I bet Tommy yearns to follow him down that road.  He must spend at least three hours a day wondering how on earth he ended up in the same party as Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh.  He's been in prison in the past, of course, but he now knows there are far more excruciating forms of punishment than that.

Alba is undoubtedly finished, but the remaining question is whether it staggers on like the walking dead for years to come getting negligible vote shares in every election, or whether it dissolves itself with dignity. https://t.co/5sHvkGYnIF

— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) October 26, 2025