MOST of the attention at this week’s SNP conference in Perth
will be on Nicola Sturgeon’s coronation as SNP leader.
By the weekend, she will have succeeded Alex Salmond as the
Nationalists’ head honcho, and by the following Wednesday she will be First
Minister.
Although the gathering is shaping up to be a New
Labour-style rally, internal matters outside the public eye are likely to be
significant.
Elections to the SNP’s governing National Executive
Committee (NEC) tend only to interest political trainspotters, but party sources say
this year’s internal poll is the most important in years.
This has nothing to do with independence, a second
referendum or political tactics, but everything to do with governance.
In a nutshell, some senior Nationalists have concerns about
the effect of Sturgeon leading the party and her husband Peter Murrell being SNP
chief executive at the same time.
Murrell is deemed to be an SNP star, but the folk who have
spoken to me believe there must be distance between the posts of party leader
and chief executive.
Insiders believe it is inevitable that a married couple in
this situation will privately chew the fat on crucial party matters – finance,
strategy, personnel – which could create problems
for the SNP’s democratic structures.
In this context, it is said that the SNP needs an NEC of heavy
hitters who can ensure the Sturgeon-Murrell relationship does not turn into a
problem, rather than electing a band of loyalists.
Sturgeon has many strengths, but I understand she does not respond
well to being challenged. In internal party matters, she is also believed to be a centraliser who trusts only a handful of confidantes.
The role of the NEC, sources say, should be to give a
voice to members and act as a check on the power of the leadership.
One final bit of insider intrigue is that SNP MSP and
Salmond ally Joan McAlpine is standing for the NEC.
Joan is a controversial newspaper columnist and her
candidacy will no doubt gauge her popularity inside the SNP.
The NEC election results are announced on Saturday.
