SNP implosion has been on the cards for years

The SNP losing 39 of the 47 seats they previously held should serve as a much-needed wake-up call.

Of course, there are a few external factors which influenced the overall result; constituency boundary changes, the first-past-the-post voting system, the postal votes fiasco, and the requirement of ID to vote for the first time.

Undoubtedly though, the biggest factor in the loss of support for the SNP was the SNP themselves.

READ MORE: Calls to ban Israel arms exports after top Labour minister's comments

After the tidal wave of support in 2015 resulted in the SNP winning almost every seat in Scotland, it became clear to me pretty early on that the party itself was overwhelmed with that level of unprecedented support. When I asked why certain things were not in place, or processes were not being followed, I was told that “we’re building the plane as we’re flying it”.

At the time that felt true and made perfect sense, but by the time of the snap election in 2017, that reasoning was starting to look like a negligent excuse.

Since 2017, at all levels (branches, Holyrood and Westminster) the SNP felt like a political pressure cooker as opposed to a unified political force.

Despite the influx of money and talent post-referendum, there did not seem to be enough investment or improvement in the SNP as an organisation.

In fairness, with consecutive snap Westminster elections, referendums, Holyrood elections, and council elections, it was difficult to pause for breath – but it is undeniable that more could have been done. With the level of money and expertise at their disposal, the SNP should have modernised their structures, processes, and strategies to cope with, and include the influx of new members.

Instead, we got a decade’s supply of foam fingers, frisbees and pens. The subsequent, and ongoing, police investigation into the party’s finances and leadership only confirmed the scale of the issue.

(Image: SNP, via Twitter)

The outward reality of consecutive Westminster and Holyrood election wins distracted from the inward reality that the internal cracks were fast becoming chasms.

Renewed and festering resentment towards the SNP hierarchy has fuelled so many of the party’s own goals in recent years. As has the increasingly public political tug-of-war between the progressive left and the socially conservative right.

The problem at the heart of the SNP is that independence is pretty much the only thing all members agree on. Being seen to spend more energy fighting amongst ourselves than we spend helping people out of poverty, being seen to care more about the process of independence than we do about convincing people as to why we should be independent, is exactly why the SNP seem out of touch to so many.

Until the SNP agree on how progressive they want to be, I fear the party’s self-destruction has further to go yet.

Combine the public infighting with the lack of any unified, fresh vision, has only worsened the electorate’s perception of the SNP as a tired and divided regime.

The strategy of acting like an independent government in the hope it will inspire people has made a well-intentioned impact, but the consequence is that the public now holds the Scottish Government accountable for things it does not control. The decline in Scotland’s public services is undeniable, but so is the fact that those services still outperform those of the rest of the UK.

That truth alone is not enough to inspire people in an election though.

A renewed, modern and radical vision will be required if there is any hope of changing the party’s fortunes.

All the challenges facing the party can be overcome, but it will require honesty, discipline, and humility. Without it, the 2024 election will be a starter to the main meal in 2026.