Alba leadership contest in chaos amid 'bullying, harassment' and 'fascist' claims

Kenny MacAskill has survived a bid from Chris McEleny, who will step down as general secretary after a leader is appointed, to have him suspended after what the interim leader deemed an "unauthorised and unconstitutional” attempt.

Mr MacAskill, the former SNP justice secretary, will be required to go before Alba's disciplinary committee after being accused of "alluding that senior Alba Party members were fascist".

Mr MacAskill is taking on the party’s sole MSP, Ash Regan, in the contest to replace former party leader Alex Salmond following his death.

READ MORE: Why Kenny MacAskill has entered the race to succeed Alex Salmond as Alba leader

Ms Regan, a former SNP community safety minister, was accused of bullying in 2019 when it was revealed four members of her office had signed gagging orders and been paid off, while her office was also accused of disability discrimination.

The reference to people in the party being “fascist" is believed to relate to comments Mr MacAskill made about Ms Regan when he announced his bid for the top job.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Mr MacAskill said the party “cannot allow a drift to the right or pursue a populist agenda pushed by wealthy oligarchs", seen as a dig at Ms Regan after she contacted X owner Elon Musk, pleading with him to build a new Tesla gigafactory in Scotland.

In an email, first reported by The National, Mr McEleny said he “notified Mr Kenny MacAskill that he was suspended from attending any party meeting until the completion of the process that is investigating allegations of bullying and harassment against him”.

Mr McEleny told party members that a report would be prepared for the disciplinary committee over alleged rule breaches, including “the holding of non constituted meetings of the party” and “subjecting the party to potential liabilities” and “alluding that senior Alba Party members were fascist as reported in the press as a result of social media commentary”.

READ MORE: Ash Regan on why she will bid to succeed Alex Salmond as Alba leader

Mr MacAskill has said “an unauthorised and unconstitutional attempt was made to allegedly suspend me”, accusing Mr McEleny of “acting outwith the limits of their powers”.

He said: “The attempt was firmly rebutted by the [national executive committee] and the matter is now being dealt with internally.”

An Alba spokesperson said: "The proposal put to the NEC was unauthorised, unconstitutional and outwith powers of the general secretary.

"It was in any event firmly rebutted by the NEC as are further allegations. This is now the subject of internal disciplinary proceedings and we cannot comment further."