1 week Ago By Rachel Amery
Fergus Ewing says he will not stand for the SNP at next year’s Holyrood election - but may still stand as an independent. The rebel backbencher says he will not quit the nationalist party before the 2026 election, but says there is a chance he will run for election as an independent candidate if his party does not make “significant progress” on dualling the A9 and A96 . Over the past few years Mr Ewing has been highly critical of his own party and the Scottish Government, including its shift away from North Sea oil and gas, gender reform, and the Bute House Agreement, the power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens.
The former cabinet secretary also says the SNP has “become far too tribal and divisive”. Mr Ewing said: “I have wrestled with my conscience for perhaps too long. “I am afraid I cannot defend the record of the SNP on the pledges to dual the A9 and A96 - both so vital for my constituency.
” Scottish politics has never been more important - get The Steamie newsletter today However Mr Ewing said his constituents are still encouraging him to stand as an independent candidate. Mr Ewing was temporarily suspended from the SNP in 2023 for voting against the government in a vote of no confidence in Green Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater. Read more: The Scottish politicians standing down at the 2026 Holyrood election He said: “The key issue for me as a constituency MSP is delivering on the promises both I and my party have made at election after election.
“Unless substantial and significant progress is made before next March on both dualled road projects, I may consider standing next year as an independent candidate. “I will set out in due course what that progress should reasonably entail.” Mr Ewing is the son of nationalist trailblazer Winnie Ewing and has been the MSP for the Inverness area since devolution in 1999.
However he says the SNP has shifted away from its traditional values in recent years. He said: “The SNP is just no longer the party for all of Scotland, as it has been for most of my 50 years as a member. “The party can change and, in my opinion, must do so.
“That is why I am not simply standing down now from the SNP group. “I honour my own party membership, which I was born into and which is part of my very soul.” If Mr Ewing stands down in 2026, it will be the first time since 1974 that no member of the Ewing family has represented the SNP in any elected parliament, as his sister Annabelle Ewing MSP has said she will be resigning .
Mr Ewing added: “My constituents do not want a nest of fearties in their parliament. “They do want a strong independent voice - that is precisely what I have sought to provide for them.”.
