On May 6, the Scots vote to renew their regional parliament, Holyrood. A crucial ballot, seven years after the independence referendum – at the time, 55% of voters voted in favor of staying in the UK. All the polls since the summer of 2020 give the absolute majority to the SNP, the independence party, which campaigns in favor of a new referendum, arguing that Brexit, to which the Scots are mainly opposed, has completely changed the situation.
For weeks north of the Tweed River, however, it is not the election campaign that has made the headlines but a dark story of revenge, against a backdrop of conspiracy and allegations of sexual abuse. It opposes the two main political figures of the region: Alex Salmond, 66, former Scottish prime minister between 2007 and 2014, and Nicola Sturgeon, 50, his former “protégé”, who took the head of the SNP and the government Scottish, when Mr Salmond resigned in the wake of the failed 2014 referendum.
“Even from here, in Edinburgh, it’s hard to keep up, but it’s a very big deal, causing a lot of internal problems for the SNP and the Scottish Parliament”, underlines David Gow, ex-journalist and editor of the blog Scepticalscot, installed in the Scottish capital.
The brawl between “Salmondites” and “Sturgeonites” has taken an even more dramatic turn in recent days, after Holyrood posted on its website Monday (February 22nd) a shattering written statement by Mr. Salmond addressed to a charged parliamentary commission of inquiry. to shed light on his feud with the Sturgeon government.
Sexual assault charges
In this lengthy deposition, the former prime minister specifically accuses senior officials and SNP officials, including Liz Lloyd, Nicola Sturgeon’s chief of staff, and Peter Murrell, the party’s executive director (and husband of the prime minister ), having “Attempted in a concerted and malicious manner (…) to spoil [sa] reputation to the point of [l’]Send to jail “. The accusations were deemed so delicate, that following an intervention by the Scottish Court of Justice on Tuesday 23 February, Holyrood struck out entire sections of the text. Tuesday evening, Mr. Salmond’s lawyer let it be known that he therefore refused to be heard on Wednesday February 24 …
How did these old close friends come to such a confrontation when when it came time to take over in 2014, Mr.me Sturgeon, greeted his “Mentor”, a “Hero of our movement [pour l’indépendance] and a champion of our nation ” ?
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