SNP membership numbers plummet further

Oh dear. It’s not a good time to be an SNP politician, what with the recent electoral wipeout, the party’s muddled stance on the Middle East and party insiders already plotting who their next leader will be. And now it transpires that the party has lost yet more members, leaving its card-carrying supporters at a new low of just over 64,000. Crikey…

After the bitter leadership contest that tarnished the reputation of the SNP, membership numbers fell from 125,000 in 2019 to around 72,000 – a staggering drop of 43 per cent. Not that the party was particularly keen to admit it, with then-spin doctor Murray Foote resigning after it emerged he had inadvertently misled the media over the exodus. Now it emerges that even more paid-up members have ditched the party, almost halving the highs of the 2019 boom.

But while today’s Electoral Commission figures suggest the part is slightly better off now compared to the last 12 months, with a surplus of over £650,000 compared to an £800,000 deficit in 2022, there is more bad news for the secessionists.