SNP members have overwhelmingly backed leader John Swinney's strategy that a majority at next year's Holyrood election is the only route to another independence referendum. The motion, approved on the first day of the party's annual conference in Aberdeen, states that winning 65 or more seats in the Scottish Parliament would be 'the only uncontested way to deliver a new vote on Scotland's future'.
The conference rejected a rebel amendment, backed by over 40 local branches, which proposed treating the 2026 election as a de facto referendum. Under that plan, a majority of the popular vote for pro-independence parties would be seen as a mandate to open independence negotiations directly. Former leader Nicola Sturgeon, who first promoted the de facto idea, later acknowledged it as a 'mistake' in her memoir.
Swinney told delegates that the SNP is 'within touching distance of the 65 seats that will make the world sit up and take notice', urging the party to take a 'clear, unambiguous message' to the public. Depute leader Keith Brown seconded the motion, stating that 'the only way we can achieve independence is to ask a clear question and get a clear answer'.
The strategy marks a shift from the 2024 general election, where the SNP lost 38 of its 48 Westminster seats amid what activists saw as a muddled independence message. With the SNP now leading polls ahead of Scottish Labour and Reform UK, the party aims to win back 'soft yes' supporters who have drifted away.
Veteran activist Graeme McCormick, speaking for the defeated amendment, warned that the SNP was being 'hollowed out' by failing to inspire members with a referendum date. Former MP Tommy Sheppard argued the party needed a long-term strategy to deepen support for independence into the 2030s. However, achieving a majority remains challenging under Holyrood's proportional system; the SNP has only won one outright majority, under Alex Salmond in 2011.
