THE SNP’s annual conference will take place at the end of November, after after some members expressed doubts over whether the online event would take place as expected.
The party has confirmed the event will take place on November 28-30.
It will conclude with a speech from Nicola Sturgeon on St Andrew’s Day.
SNP Business Convener Kirsten Oswald MP said: “Our ambition is to deliver a large-scale virtual event as close as possible to SNP conference in normal times.
“A great deal of work has gone on behind the scenes with e-conference providers and software developers across the globe, and I am excited about this upcoming event.
“While the coronavirus pandemic has brought a necessary pause to life as it was, it also provides a moment, a unique and unprecedented one, to reimagine our world and the possibilities it offers our nation.
“Conference is our opportunity to meet and discuss our vision - and to restate our commitment to delivering an independent Scotland and endeavour as a party to always put Scotland’s best interests at heart.”
The plans for a virtual conference were first revealed by The National in June.
READ MORE: SNP consider plans for virtual autumn conference
The announcement comes as Joanna Cherry reassured SNP members that conference plans were “well advanced” after they expressed concern about the event going ahead.
The party’s justice and home affairs spokeswoman at Westminster last week called for delegates attending the conference to vote off members “with vendettas” from the SNP’s ruling national executive committee.
Her intervention followed a controversial decision by the body to change the rules requiring MPs to stand down before standing for election to Holyrood. As a result of the revised process Cherry, MP for Edinburgh South West, withdrew her bid to stand for selection to be the SNP candidate for Edinburgh Central at next year’s Scottish Parliament election.
READ MORE: Joanna Cherry moves to dispel doubts over SNP annual conference
Some insiders told The National this week that they were concerned the conference may not take place this month as they do not yet have the notifications they would have otherwise received if the conference is to take place over the next four weeks.
Writing on Twitter, Cherry said: “I’m sure there will be an SNP conference and NEC elections because they are required by our party constitution. I’ve been assured that plans facilitating it online are well advanced. Re the NEC election delegates already vote online.”
There was suspicion among some members that the party’s ruling body was not pushing for a conference imminently amid the possibility a new NEC with more Alex Salmond supporters could move to suspend Peter Murrell as the party’s chief executive and investigate WhatsApp messages he allegedly sent about the former First Minister. Murrell is married to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Last week MP Kenny MacAskill, justice secretary under Salmond, called for Murrell to be suspended from his post and for the SNP to investigate the messages.
Separately, a Police Scotland inquiry has been launched into the leak of the texts which appear to show Murrell calling for pressure to be put on the police t investigate the former First Minister.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats have held autumn conferences with speeches and debates being held remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing restrictions.
Earlier this year the SNP took the decision to call off its spring conference, which had been set to take place in Aviemore in June amid the pandemic.
Around 600 people had been expected to attend.
Last week The National revealed that the wording of an alternative route to independence has been agreed between the SNP’s national secretary and the Plan B architects and is in line to be debated at the conference.
If passed it could see Scottish ministers seek a legal challenge to establish if Holyrood could stage the new vote on self-determination with the Prime Minister’s agreement.
Should this step prove unsuccessful, the motion argues that the May 2021 elections should be a de facto referendum on independence.
READ MORE: SNP conference motion on Plan B for Scottish independence has wording agreed
The move comes as a series of polls suggest there is majority support for independence with one recent survey showing that 55% of Scots would vote Yes, a reversal of the 2014 referendum.
However, Boris Johnson has repeatedly said he will not give the Scottish Parliament powers to hold a new referendum.
His stance has led to mounting demands among independence supporters for the Scottish Government to develop an alternative strategy to reach their goal.
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