Alex Salmond: It takes days to destroy a party
Alex Salmond has let rip at the SNP leadership after figures revealed tens of thousands of people have left the party.
SNP bosses were today forced into disclosing current membership numbers after all three leadership candidates called for transparency.
The call was led by Ash Regan and backed up by Kate Forbes and Humza Yousaf.
Just over 72,000 people hold active memberships and are eligible to cast their vote to replace Nicola Sturgeon as party leader.
The figure marks a significant decrease on the 2019 high of 126,000 members. And it is a further drop since December 2021, when membership was around 104,000.
An SNP spokesperson said it remains "the biggest - and indeed the only mass membership - party in Scotland".
Former SNP leader Alex Salmond has now given his reaction.
Quoting Robert Burns, the Alba Party leader said: "There's nane ever fear'd that truth should be heard, but they whom the truth would indite."
He went on: "It takes decades to build a political party but days to destroy one."
Meanwhile, Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said the SNP "had to be dragged kicking and screaming into even releasing these numbers", adding: "The SNP government are out of touch with the real priorities of Scotland and it seems tens of thousands of now former members have also come to that conclusion and decided enough is enough."
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