WHEN Alex Salmond signed up Jimmy Reid to the SNP, that’s when I knew I also had to join. As a son of the Clyde and an apprentice electrician, I remember feeling proud at work listening to older journeymen talk about Jimmy, who had helped to lead the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders work in, coming out for independence.

A lot has happened since then. We won our first-ever Scottish Parliament election. We formed governments and we secured an independence referendum. And despite losing in 2014, we went on to keep winning elections. None of this I could have ever imagined in my wildest dreams when I joined the SNP when we were a party of opposition.

During this period I had the greatest privilege of my life in leading the SNP in Inverclyde for the best part of the past decade.

If I had been told last year that I wouldn’t be in the SNP in a year’s time I wouldn’t have believed it. I’m acutely aware that I still even say “we” when I mention the party.

It was only back in 2018 that I was running for SNP depute leader after Nicola told me that she would be more than happy for me to carry out the role.

Leaving the SNP was the hardest decision of my life. I don’t like that I’m no longer in the party I joined as a teenager.

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People I regard as some of my best friends in life are still there and the only thing that has hurt over the past week is the feeling that I’ve disappointed some of them for doing what I believe is right for Scotland.

Why did I leave to join Alba? The answer is in itself simple: I, and all those that have rallied to the Alba Party, genuinely believe it’s what’s best for delivering Scotland’s independence.

I once lost a career for my belief in Scottish independence. From the bottom of my heart I hope I don’t lose friends for doing what I believe will help us deliver it.

One thing I learned from 2014 was that a lot of our fellow citizens voted No not because they were against Scottish independence, but because they didn’t support what was being offered by the Scottish Government.

One of the strengths of the Yes movement is its diversity and I’ve long believed that if we set out only one party’s vision for Scotland’s independence, it will be very difficult to deliver a majority to support that.

Now with Alba and the SNP there is the opportunity for two differing views of what Scotland’s independence should look like, but nonetheless if the country chooses which of these visions they believe in, it is a vision of independence they choose either way.

Polls show us that Scots consistently want Scotland to be an independent country. Yet despite several mandates the SNP had to deliver a referendum, Boris Johnson simply ignored our voice.

The SNP will win constituencies across the country, and I am rooting for my friends in every one of them. But we know the system means this will result in the SNP winning few or no list seats.

In 2016 the SNP got more votes than in 2011 but this didn’t deliver a majority. How is that anything other than a system rigged against us?

The Alba party now offer the opportunity to deliver a supermajority for independence in the Scots Parliament. Boris Johnson has blocked our path to independence by characterising the debate as being against the SNP.

Independence is much bigger than any one political party. With a supermajority in favour of independence it will be a lot harder for a British Prime Minister to deny the will of an entire parliament.